The Alchemy of Souls
by TouNiiSan
Summary: During the attack on the homunculi-dominated Central, the insurgents and defenders are transported to a World regulated by technicians and weapons. What will happen then? Rated T for language. Mangaverse for both.
1. Prologue: The Arrival of the Two Sages

**Prologue: The Arrival of the Two Sages**

A large, muscular man in a dark-brown coat and black suit treaded across the desert region of a place the people called Nevada. His hair, tied in a ponytail, was golden yellow; his eyes, behind metal-rimmed glasses, the same color.

How he got there was a question, even to himself, a talented alchemist and "the Sage of the West." He was even able to perform alchemy here, but had never, in the many hundred years he was alive, heard of a place on the map called "Nevada".

It was not new. In fact, it was a place called "the Silver State" with over a hundred years of history. He had been to a place called Las Vegas, and was surprised at the large amount of neon lights that never seemed to stop flashing, the number of showmen and revealing women, and the advanced gambling machines there. Compared to wherever he was used to, whether it be Xing, Amestris, or Xerxes, this place was flashy and loud. Technology here was much more sophisticated than what he was used to.

* * *

It all started as Van Hoenheim walked toward Father's lair underneath Amestris. He found the edge of his vision turning white. The white spread until everything, even the space around him, became uniform white. A mass of white nothingness enveloped him as he walked into the light.

His vision cleared and he saw himself, not in an underground complex filled with pipes, but in the center of some twenty, thirty women in robes and pointed hats chanting a certain spell that, for all he could make out of, sounded like a cheap tongue twister. Around him was a transmutation circle, except that it contained symbols in an equation that made absolutely no sense to him. He recognized the language of the spell as a far eastern Xingnese dialogue, and after some few decades traveling around Xing teaching alchemy, was able to adapt to the language itself.

"Excuse me," he asked in the Xingnese dialogue. "Do you know where I am?"

The witches took a look upon him and, surprised that he understood Japanese, answered, "Nevada." One held up a soul, the soul of a human, and bowed to him. Hoenheim took the soul in his hands.

"What is this?" he asked in a dialogue of Xerxes.

"Take it, great master, and consume it. It is the soul of a member of the human race," the witch replied in English.

_So they despise humans. _Hoenheim thought. _The very least I could do was to save this soul from being fed to another monster. If I fight a group as large as this, I will be put in a bad place. I will win, but I will lose the trust of the others. Plus, there might be many more._ He put the soul in his mouth and ate it, giving the soul a place with the souls of the residents of Xerxes.

They bowed and chanted, "Joma, Joma, dabarasa. Hail the great male witch said to appear once every hundred years! Shibusen falls now!"

A drop of sweat rolled down the Sage of the West's cheek as he heard himself called a "male witch." He then looked down at the transmutation circle beneath him and tried to make meaning of it.

_The animals seemed to correspond to the kind of the respective witches' hats._ _Perhaps I've entered another world, and the circle is a different alchemical array unique to this world. There were animals in it, and it is very likely that I was brought here with the circle._

"Please let us show you the human city closest, so that you may take their souls."

It was then that Van Hoenheim set foot into Las Vegas.

"There are still not enough humans in here," he told the witches. "I must wait for 'the day' to come, so that I may take the most souls in there."

"And when will that day be, great master?" they asked.

"Only time will tell," he replied. _This is the least I could do to prevent another repeat of Xerxes,_ he thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, another group of witches were doing the exact same thing around a transmutation circle. Around it sat Medusa Gorgon, Eruka Frog, Free, and the Mizune family, which was divided into groups of three and two.

"Nake Snake Cobra Cobubra…"

"Kaerog Froeru Gekoeru Frog…"

"Wolf, Wolves, Wolf, Wolves…"

"Chi chi chi chi chi chi chi…"

Bright white light flashed in the middle, and as the light subsided, the form of a man appeared. Long golden hair matched the equally golden eyes, but unlike the eyes of Hoenheim, the eyes that surveyed the circle of the Gorgon witch and her companions contained no emotion. What appeared to be Greek robes donned the muscular body. This figure was the exact image of Hoenheim, save the loose hair, glasses, and clothes.

"Good day to you, Eibon." The little sand-blond girl with the snake-like expression said.

_Eibon_, thought Father. They think that I am someone called Eibon. _They bow down to me, meaning that Eibon is a great figure, probably one of worship. It would make sense to pass myself off as this Eibon and take advantage of them. Another Philosopher's Stone may come into my hands._

_ It is surprising what happened here though. Is this some trick of Hoenheim's? I could sense him walking into my chambers earlier. Now, however, I can't sense him at all. _

"Good day to you," replied Father. "What is it that you request from me?"

"We request you help us," Medusa said. "Your enemy, Shinigami, built himself an army over the past 800 years."

"I listen to what you say and it seems that this body has forgotten all but its name. Bring me my memories back and I will lead you in the fight against Shinigami." _This is what would have happened to Alphonse Elric's body in the gate. It is only logical that this will happen to Eibon's._

"We will take you to 'Lost Island', north of Alaska. Your research is there, Eibon-sama."

_Eibon's Book contains his memories_, Medusa thought. This must be Eibon's body. Give the book to Eibon and Shibusen will fall.

* * *

Edition: 2

Disclaimer: I do not own either of the manga mentioned in this fanfiction. Soul Eater belongs to Ookubo Atsushi and Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Arakawa Hiromu. This goes further to say that I do not own the characters, artwork, franchise, etc. presented in either of the manga.


	2. Chapter 1: Elrics and Shibusen Students

Note: Some edits will be taking place. They will not significantly affect the plot. Thanks for your loyalty to this crossover. :)

* * *

**Chapter 1: Elrics and Shibusen Students**

"Ha…ha…" a small eight-limbed being, with appendages at the end of its front four limbs and a mouth with jagged teeth stretching between those limbs, breathed as he pulled a small scarlet stone from its body.

"How much further will that simplistic outlook take you?" Envy asked spitefully as he painfully grasped the stone. "Good luck."

Four of its hands crushed the stone, reducing it to crimson liquid, which then turned into powder of the same color. Soon, the rest of the creature was disintegrating into dust.

"Bye bye…Ed…ward…Elric…" Envy sneered as tears of pain leaked from his large circular eyes. Within seconds, the homunculus was no more.

The said Edward Elric looked on with gold eyes, the same color as his father's. Hair hung from the sides of his head in thick, sharp strands, with one thin one sticking from the center of his forehead like an antenna and bunches behind his head tied in a thick rope.

"Suicde," Roy Mustang muttered as he sat on the ground, tired from the ordeal, with a gloved hand over his eyes. "You cruel bastard…"

Unlike Edward, Mustang's hair was short and black. Standing up, he dwarfed the miniature alchemist, but sitting down, he himself felt dwarfed by the stress of the ordeal. True, his friend Hughes was avenged, but he himself found no satisfaction.

"We need to move on," Scar muttered as he walked back down the hallway. "He is close. With this, everything will be finished."

Riza Hawkeye put her hand on Mustang's shoulder and gave it a slight nudge. Mustang refused to move at first, but gave in and followed his subordinate. Edward followed, took a look back at where Envy disintegrated, then walked down the hall with the rest of the group.

Scar stopped abruptly and took a look around him. "What…is this?" he asked, turning to look at his surroundings. Everyone could see the X-shaped scar of the muscular man stretching from his forehead to the middle of his face.

"You may have wanted revenge on Envy as well for triggering the Ishval War. I feel it too," Mustang replied, still stressed. "That sense of relief, as though your cause for revenge is gone."

"No, it's not that," Scar responded. "It looks as though I'm stepping into some light. My vision is turning white. Yet, when we crossed to this area, there wasn't this much light to begin with."

"What are you talking about? This is…" Mustang could not bring himself to call it "ridiculous", because the edge of his vision was turning white too. "Why? My vision is turning white too…"

"Sir," Hawkeye said worriedly, as she found her superior fading away into the background. She said nothing more, for she too found everything around her turning white.

"What's going on?" Edward asked. "Each of you is fading away-"

Now Scar had completely vanished. "Scar!" Edward yelled.

Roy Mustang vanished too. "Mustang!" By now Edward found everything turning white.

The last thing he saw was Hawkeye and, as he became consumed by the whiteness, he saw a likeness of his automail mechanic looking at him. "Winry…" he called out, before he lost the rest of his allies in the whiteness.

"Al…" he said barely audibly as nothingness took hold.

The sense of white nothingness is truly ironic. There is much less detail in it than in the real world. To be exact, there is no detail at all. Yet when people are confronted with it, they are much more frightened of it even though nothing is really there. Or perhaps, it would be correct to say that they are much more frightened because nothing was there.

Utter hopelessness…emptiness without zero…all these thoughts converged upon Edward Elric at once. The gate of truth was scarier, but this whiteness was actually carrying him somewhere. Before he knew it, the whiteness carried him into unconsciousness.

* * *

A party was held at Gallows Mansion, the house of Death the Kid, Shinigami's son. Kid could easily be singled out by the three white stripes on the left side of his black hair, yellow eyes, and features of Shinigami's trademark skull mask on his clothes.

Maka Albarn walked around the mansion with her scythe, Soul Eater Evans. As Black Star ravenously gobbled down meal after meal, his weapon, Tsubaki, watched in embarrassment at his improper actions. Liz was searching for a good-looking man and Patty was enjoying the food. All weapons were in their human forms. Everyone marveled at the lavishness of the party, except Kid and his weapons, who became accustomed to the atmosphere at several parties prior.

There was one person who was quiet though, and that was the pink-haired demon swordsperson Chrona. She felt something of the Shibusen veteran students and did not know what it was. She was confused, unknowing of the feeling, until Maka stated that their support was friendship. For the first time, Chrona had friends.

She smiled happily for the first time too. Before, her smiles have all been those of insanity. Now she felt refreshed as she radiated true happiness.

"Then play the piano!" Maka suggested to her weapon partner as she pointed to a black one nearby. "It's been a while since I heard you play."

"Give me a break," Soul said, dislike visible on his face. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"So," Liz asked Maka. "He can play the piano?"

"Soul played for me just once, when we were first partnered."

"What kind of song?"

"_A really dark, strange song_," Maka answered. "'This is the kind of guy I am,' he said, and suddenly started playing."

"But," Maka continued. "Somehow, I think his aloofness has made him an interesting partner."

The conversation was broken as Soul came in, dragging an unconscious teenage boy in a red coat.

"Found him in the restroom," Soul said. "He looks dead tired and needs rest."

And then…

"Orders from my father," Kid said, with a dead serious expression on his face. "Come with me."

Liz and Patty left with Kid, leaving Maka and Soul to carry the teen to the nearest bed available, in one of the guest rooms down the hall. Soon however, he stirred a little and woke up.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Gallows Mansion, Death City," Maka replied.

"Death City?" he asked again. "Am I dead?"

"Nah, you're alive. Though it's quite natural that anybody who isn't familiar with the place and chances upon it thinks that they meet Death, or will eventually meet Death," Soul quipped. "It's quite funny to see the looks on their faces."

"Soul," Maka scolded.

"So I'm going to die," the teen said sadly.

"Actually, no," Maka said. "Soul said you'll meet Death, but that doesn't mean that you'll lose your life. By the way, I'm Maka and this is Soul. What's your name?"

"Edward," the teen replied. "But a lot of people call me Ed." Soon, people heading down the hallway with the bathroom Edward emerged from started to scream. A large suit of armor squeezed through the door of the bathroom directly opposite. Eerie red eyes could easily be seen at the eye holes of the helmet.

"Soul, let's go." Maka said hurriedly.

Soul transformed into a scythe with a red and black jagged pattern on the blade and Maka ran down the hall, blond hair flying. Edward ran after them, intrigued.

"Hey, Maka," Edward said. "Did he just transform into a scythe?"

"I sure as hell did!" Soul replied, visibly excited by the expression of the eye on his scythe. "Cool, isn't it?"

"I get the carbon coating and some of the coloring from the iron oxide and other chemicals, but where is the rest of his body?" Edward asked. "No matter how you look at it, that guy can't fit all his organs into that thin of a pole."

Neither weapon nor technician had time to explain. They stood in front of the armor with spiked rings on its shoulders and a loincloth at its waist. People were edging away from the armor, while other weapons started to transform.

"Umm…" the suit of armor said in a voice that sounded surprisingly young, innocent, and confused.

"Al!" Edward said smiling. "You're here."

"Brother!" Al said cheerfully, and the Elric brothers embraced. Seeing this, the guests calmed down and looked at the armor embracing the young teenager.

Maka, however, was clearly confused.

"Hey Maka, what's wrong?" Soul asked.

"The armor," Maka said looking at it. "It has a human soul, so, is it just a weapon?"

"And why are the souls of Ed and Al intertwined? It's almost like a permanent soul resonance."

"I don't know," Soul said. "Ask Ed."

"You wanted to ask me something?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, your souls are intertwined." Maka said. "And Al seems to be a weapon, so could you get him to change back? Though I really don't think that I've seen anything like a full suit of armor for a weapon before-"

"It's not something I like to talk about." Ed's eyes were downcast. "All I can say is that Al and I were involved in an accident. And then, he realized that he could change into this. He doesn't seem to want to change back anyway. Right Al?"

"R…right," Al played along. And then it hit him. "Where am I?"

"You are in Death City, Nevada," Maka said.

"Nevada? Where's that?" Al asked.

"You don't know? It's in the United States." Soul answered, now in his human form.

"I've never heard of that place," Ed said. "We come from Amestris."

"Amestris," Maka thought out loud. "That's the name of an infamous queen of Persia, wife of King Xerxes. I read that in a history book. I don't think it's the name of a state though."

"Wait, Xerxes?" Ed asked again. "Isn't that the civilization that disappeared seemingly overnight several hundred years ago?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Maka corrected. "I mean someone named King Xerxes of Persia. There isn't a state named after him."

"How is that possible?" Al asked, and then thought of an idea. "Could you let me see the world map?"

"Sure thing!" rang a voice that Maka and Soul immediately recognized as Black Star's.

"What took you so long?" Soul asked.

"I was upstairs then rushed down and was about to confront that which was stealing the spotlight from me!" Black Star shouted. He pointed directly at Al. "I'll get my attention back you commoner! Nobody steals the spotlight from me, the one and only Black Star!"

"Geez, cool it a little, will you?" Ed asked, exasperated.

"Hah," Black Star said. "Pretty big words coming out of the mouth of such a small man, let me-"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SOMEONE SO SMALL THAT YOU CAN'T SEE HIM WITHIN TEN FEET OF WHERE YOU'RE STANDING?" Ed roared as he slammed his right foot directly into Black Star's face.

"That's not what he said, Edward," Maka and Soul said simultaneously, while Tsubaki shouted "Black Star!" in surprise at seeing her companion harmed.

"And you're telling him to cool down," Al sighed at his brother's hair-trigger temper.

"Damn it," Black Star said, wiping blood off of his mouth. "Don't think that you can just desecrate the visage of a god and get away with it!"

"I'm sorry, I don't believe in gods." Edward said in a matter-of-fact fashion, as he rushed toward Black Star. Within mere seconds, the two engaged in a flurry of hand to hand combat. Pieces of wood were flying off the walls as the two aimed kick after kick at each other.

"We have to calm them down before Kid gets back!" Soul shouted. "This is not cool…"

Al got in between both fighters and pushed them aside. Maka restrained Black Star with Soul while Al restrained Ed with his arms.

"DAMMIT AL!" Ed yelled. "LET ME HIT THAT GUY FOR CALLING ME A SMALL PANSY!"

"Brother, he didn't say that." Al said. "Remember? We need to get map information from this guy."

"LET GO OF ME, SOUL! MAKA!" Black Star screeched. "I AM GOING TO KICK THAT GUY'S ASS AND PROVE THAT I AM A GOD!"

"Calm down, Black Star," Maka said. "He's new and that suit of armor is his brother. People can't help but stare when a suit of armor suddenly shows up in a bathroom."

Both sides managed to calm the combatants. Black Star huffed, and then spoke.

"Well, as you know the Earth's axis rotates around me, for I am a god-"

"Could you just cut to the chase and tell me the stuff I need to know?"

"I am. The Earth's axis rotates constantly around a god, and that is information that you need to know."

"I'm sorry, he gets carried away sometimes." Tsubaki said sheepishly. A bead of sweat rolled down her cheek in embarrassment.

"There's an atlas upstairs in Kid's library." Maka said. "Just make sure to put it back exactly where you found it or else Kid will go crazy."

"Kid?" Edward asked.

"It's that way." Soul transformed back into his human form and pointed in the direction of the library.

"Alright, thanks," Ed said as he and Al headed upstairs to the library.


	3. Chapter 2: Medusa's Return

**Chapter 2: Medusa's Return**

Moments later, the Elric brothers headed downstairs with the atlas in tow.

"This isn't a joke, right?" he asked.

"No, of course not," Maka replied.

"Then what is this?" Ed asked as he opened the atlas to the world map.

It was a perfectly normal looking world map of the Earth.

"It's the map of the Earth," Soul said after a glance.

"The funny thing is," Ed said, "that this map is an exact rotation of our world map, a 180 degree flip, to be exact! Did you get the poles wrong or something?"

"This isn't a joke, is it?" Soul asked.

"No, of course not," Al replied.

"Amestris would be around here," Al continued pointing at a spot on the world map, at a spot close to what the inhabitants of our Earth would call "East Prussia", "except rotated, of course."

"Then you're from a different world…and it's a parallel of our world?" Maka asked.

"It is possible." Ed replied. He clapped his hands and put them on the wall. The wood was now imprinted with a map of his world.

Everyone, but the Elrics, gasped at this.

"You use magic?" Tsubaki asked, readying herself to change into a weapon. Black Star looked apprehensive.

"Alchemy isn't magic." Edward explained. "It's science; science founded on the basic law of equivalent exchange. In other words, you give something to gain something of equal value.

"That makes sense," Maka said, and Black Star and Tsubaki relaxed a little. "We might need you at Shibusen sometime?"

"Shibusen?" the Elrics asked.

"It's the academy for technicians and weapons, otherwise known as the Death Weapon Meister Academy," Soul said. "You'd be a good asset."

"Sounds like a good place." Al thought out loud.

"We'll take you there tomorrow. In the meantime, you can stay at our place," Soul offered.

"Soul," Maka said disapprovingly. "We already have Blair and she's a handful, what with her romping around you near naked and all…"

"It's not like I really want it," Soul objected.

"Then we should have him at our place then," Tsubaki offered.

"I refuse!" Black Star shouted. "They'll suck the spotlight from me and I'll be left in the sidelines!"

"So the only thing left to do is have you stay at Shibusen," Maka concluded. "Kid has this big house, but he probably already has guests staying, _and_ he has Liz and Patty. You can only have room there, so return with Chrona."

She gestured towards the pink-haired girl, who waved back shyly.

"Chrona, can you get back to the Shibusen guest rooms by yourself?" Maka asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "I'll be okay."

"She can show us the way," Edward replied. "We can take care of anything that interferes."

"Chrona, come to our place next time!" Black Star shouted.

"Since a big eater like Ragnarok likes my food, I feel good about my cooking," Tsubaki said. Both technician and weapon were smiling.

"Y…yeah…" Chrona stammered.

"Shut up! Who'd come to your place?" Ragnarok snapped popping out of her back immediately.

The black humanoid creature with a white X on its face startled the Elrics immediately. Edward's apprehension soon rivaled Black Star's a minute ago. Al dropped into a fighting stance, focused on the black being.

"Ragnarok is a weapon that resides in her blood." Maka explained. "I know that Ragnarok looks frightening, but they're friends now."

"This place is weird," Edward sighed, relaxing his fighting stance. Al followed soon after. "Weapon-people and sentient blood-weapons inside people…"

"We don't get freaks doing weird things with materials either!" Black Star shouted back.

"Actually, we do," Maka said. "That's where witches come in, remember?"

Soul slapped himself in the face.

* * *

They said their goodbyes and headed their ways, with the Elrics following Chrona.

"Hey, Al," Edward said. "How did you end up in this place?"

"Yoki was driving us around in a car and then there was a white flash somewhere." Al recollected. "Everyone was seeing white and next thing I knew, I was in the bathroom."

"Mustang just beat Envy," Edward said. "We walked with Hawkeye and Scar down a hallway leading to Father when the same thing happened with the whiteness. Then we disappeared and I ended up in the other bathroom."

"Those events couldn't have happened at the same time."

"Yeah, maybe the reaction happens at different times for the people, and then takes them to this place."

"Brother, take a look at the black thing with the X."

"I know, reminds me a lot of Scar-"

"Hey bastards!" Ragnarok interjected. "Stop talking in some gibberish that we can't understand and talk simple!"

"-except this one has it as a birthmark…" Al finished

"We need to respect their privacy Ragnarok," Chrona said. "They became Maka's friends, so they're our friends too."

"Pffft…you're pretty simpleminded, huh," Ragnarok mocked.

Ed and Al looked over at the pair. Chrona was smiling in peace, despite Ragnarok's sarcastic remarks. _She seems happy_, Al thought.

Then, suddenly, Chrona froze. Ed and Al stopped too when she did, and they knew she was frightened.

* * *

"Hey, Chrona, what's wrong," Ed asked, and then looked around to see what was the matter.

"Brother," Al said, turning around as well, then stopped to look at a sand blond girl around 5 to 6 years old. "It's just a little girl. But what is a little girl doing out here?"

Despite this, the girl was wearing a black hooded dress with long snake ornaments dangling from the neck. It was rather sinister for the average child to wear, and to top it off, the "girl" had dark, snake-like eyes and a long arrow-shaped snake tongue. Ed and Al knew from experience that they would have to fight out this one.

And as Chrona turned around, she was shocked to see a person she knew all too well.

"I've missed you, Chrona," Medusa said innocently. Ed and Al clapped their hands quickly and touched ground, wrapping her with layers of rock. Learning from experience proved helpful enough for this.

Nonetheless, Chrona was still very frightened of the restrained girl. "Medusa-sama," she croaked, throat dry.

"I'm so happy!" She said, smiling, even as the layer of rock held her tightly. "You even recognize me in this form! Pitiful, isn't it?

"You got smaller, just like me," commented Ragnarok.

"And you even brought friends!" Medusa said, still smiling. "Though I would appreciate it if they let me out from this rock, it's dirtying my clothes."

Al looked at Ed and Ed looked back. They nodded, clapped their hands, and touched ground again, releasing her. The way she just allowed herself to be trapped by the attack without any resistance must mean that she was powerful enough to get out. And if they released any signal, it may just be taken as a kid's prank when the authorities arrive.

"Hmm…" Medusa said, dusting herself off. The innocent smile did not cease. "We have some magic users here too?"

"We learned it from our dad," Ed replied quickly. _This person isn't normal. She doesn't look like a good person either. We can't give our knowledge about alchemy._

"Wh…wh…why are you in Death City…?" Chrona asked, stammering.

"Isn't it obvious? I came to see you!" Medusa answered cheerfully.

"I was really worried about you," Medusa continued. "You see, they made Ragnarok weaker and you weren't able to defend yourself that well.

"Please," she beseeched to the Elrics. The sinister eyes before were gone, now pleading and helpless. "You two young men must be really strong with your magic. Please…please protect Chrona. As her mother, I'm really worried about her and how she's doing. This place may not be familiar to her.

"I injected her with a chemical taking the form of Ragnarok to protect her. He does seem a bit wild, but he means the best. And now, he's incapable, weakened by Shibusen. You two understand what I'm talking about, right? Chrona is just a visitor there, and she may be killed soon. So I had to use this body to make sure I'm not recognized in my original one"

The Elrics nodded quickly. This girl was just a creepier, albeit more worried version of their own master. In the end, she wanted to protect her child, her loved one, just as how their teacher wanted to revive hers'. The Elrics quickly apologized.

"Shibusen seems a bit suspicious, doesn't it?" Medusa asked. "I need all of you to find something suspicious there for me. They're hiding something there, in a secret vault that you must find. You two will tell Chrona and she will bring the information back."

"But to betray Shibusen…my friends…" Chrona said worriedly.

"Please, Chrona," Medusa said. "For your mother…"

A pause, then Chrona responded. "I understand…"

Medusa left, leaving Chrona with the Elrics.

Ragnarok chucked to himself as Chrona stood there with a smile upon her face, a smile of insanity that she wished hours ago would never come back. With that, the Elrics waited and followed her to Shibusen, mindful of that smile they knew all too well…

Medusa was all alone, walking out of Death City with a satisfied smirk on her face. She met the Elrics and convinced them to work for her. Two, no three, birds with one stone: Chrona was one, and the Elrics were special enough to count as "two."

As she walked out, she noticed clouds circling the place. "Insanity is swirling around Death City…"

"Soon…it'll awaken…knock on wood…"

* * *

That night, as Death the Kid returned home, he checked his guests to make sure they were evenly distributed into the rooms, left and right. _It would be bad to disturb the balance_, he thought.

He checked every nook and cranny on the top floor, then the bottom floor. He was startled by what had happened on the floor below.

There was a fist imprint on a nearby wall. _…and not on the other wall_, he thought, proceeding to make the exact fist imprint on the exact spot at the exact angle.

And on the other wall…

"Nooooo…The map of the Earth cannot be carved 180 degrees off on one side and not the other. I must carve it into the other end."

"Kid, just take this part out and replace it with a new board." Liz tried to convince him. Patty fell on the ground laughing her heart out at Kid's OCD. "We'll even put in new boards on the other side to match."

"Thank you, Liz," Kid said. Liz sighed in relief. The son of Shinigami was really spoiled, or simply obsessive and compulsive. He carries his ideals incredibly far, but at least-

"But this map of the Earth is perfect, even though it is 180 degrees off. Whoever did this must have a lot of artistic skill. I will duplicate it on the other wall."

"Tomorrow," Liz said sternly. "We need to go to sleep. I'm tired…"

"Alright, just a minute, I need to use the restroom. Wait in the other restroom to balance out the weight." Kid walked over to one door.

Seconds later, Kid was at the other door, making marks so as to duplicate the scratch marks caused on the first door.

"We can do this anytime we want, Kid. Now use the restroom already so that we can go to sleep."

"No, if you do that, the asymmetry will spread, disorder will follow, and the balance will be broken…It's ALL CARRIED BY THE INSANITY!"

"Your OCD is what will be carried by the insanity!"

* * *

Note: The 180 degree rotation of our world map to form the world map of Fullmetal Alchemist was a thought of my own, courtesy of the first anime for bringing the notion of parallel worlds.

In case you wonder about Medusa's OOC, it's also present in the manga, albeit in a more severe form here. This is needed to convince the Elrics, of course.


	4. Chapter 3: Enter Marie and Shinigami

**Chapter 3: Enter Marie Mjolnir and Shinigami**

The next morning, at sunrise Al woke Ed up in Chrona's dormitory, to shining rays and the not-so-bright, sinister face of the-

"ED, COME LOOK AT THIS?! WHAT IS THAT?!"

"GAAAAHHH! WHAT IS THAT THING, AL?!"

"I DON'T KNOW BROTHER?! WE NEED TO TELL THIS SHINIGAMI PERSON ABOUT IT!"

"BE QUIET, BASTARDS!" Ragnarok yelled from Chrona's back. "IT'S JUST THE DAMN SUN!"

"WHAT SORT OF SUN HAS A FACE THAT LOOKS LIKE THAT?!" Edward shrieked.

"OUR SUN HAS THAT FACE, DAMN IT! NOW SHUT THE F*** UP!" Ragnarok yelled again. By now, Chrona was wide awake.

"SO WE REALLY ARE IN A DIFFERENT WORLD AND NEITHER OF US IS PASSED OUT!" Al yelled.

"JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"

* * *

This morning, everybody living in the school woke up an hour early. Everyone was tired. The Elrics received glares from the residents everywhere they went.

"Bright awake yet, Edward?"

"No Al, I'm not bright awake. In fact, I'm half asleep. This has to be a nightmare or something, getting looks like this the day after I arrive."

That is, except from one certain woman with a lightning insignia on her eye patch.

"It's okay," she said, walking over to them, with a bright grin on her face. "The first time I saw the sun I was very young. My parents told me I cried because it was so scary."

"Hello, Marie-sensei," Chrona said.

"Good morning, Chrona," death scythe Marie Mjolnir replied. "…and it looks like you brought guests."

Neither of the Elrics knew what to say to this person. She was a good-natured person, much like their mother, and to be around her was simply, refreshing, despite her eye patch, black top and gold dress.

Gold. That color clicked in the Elrics' heads instantly. One of the noble metals and the most precious in ancient alchemy could not be forgotten easily.

"Gold eyes," Edward said. Those eyes were the same color as his and Hoenheim's.

"…and gold hair…" Al said. The hair was also the same color.

Marie froze at once.

"Gold eyes and gold hair…" she whispered. Then her eye traveled down (yes, _down_) to Edward.

"No way…" She said.

"No way…" Edward said, frozen in place.

"You can't be my son!" she shouted frantically, punching Edward and sending him flying straight into the opposite wall. Everyone turned to look at the impact. "Oh, sorry…" she said apologetically.

"Al, where's Hoenheim?" Ed asked, beaten and incensed.

"You know I don't know where he is, Ed. Why?" Al asked as he walked over to his brother.

"I am going to kill that bastard the next time I see him."

"Ed, calm down. I'm pretty sure you and Marie-sensei aren't related."

"Gold eyes and gold hair aren't that common and you know it." Ed said.

"But mom is the only woman he's ever loved."

"Yeah, and that's what he probably told you, but now there has to be some other woman involved in between, considering how long he's lived."

"Are you okay?" Marie asked as she and Chrona ran over to Ed. She turned to Al.

"I'm sorry for hitting your son," she said.

"No," Al said rather embarrassingly. "I'm his younger brother."

"Oh, sorry..."

"Al…"

"Yes Ed?"

"She hits even harder than sensei."

Then Ed collapsed.

"We're looking for this person called Shinigami." Al said, piggybacking his brother.

"Oh, Shinigami?" Marie asked. "He must be this way."

She led them in a direction while Chrona walked off to join the Shibusen students, minus Death the Kid.

* * *

Hours later, or, to be accurate, thirty minutes _before_ Shibusen's last class was about to end, they finally reached the hallway leading to Shinigami's room.

"Well there you have it." Marie said embarrassingly, still breathing heavily from the long journey around Shibusen. "It's right down this hall."

"Are you sure this time?" Ed asked, fuming, still angry about the punch. He had recovered from it and was walking around on his own for the past several hours, but still felt the pain in his cheek reverberating.

"Yes, it's definitely this hallway." She said, pointing to a long row of gateways with guillotine blades at the top. "I'm sorry, you must be very tired."

"I'm not tired," Al said.

"You must have a lot of endurance." Marie said, clearly impressed. Al didn't bother explaining.

"Well, thanks for the route, and see you around." Al said.

"Bye, I'll help you out with anything."

"Except directions," Ed added.

"Yes."

The Elric brothers ran quickly down the hallway, hoping that none of the guillotines would suddenly fall down.

* * *

"Shinigami-sama, I heard that we have two guests today."

"Ah, yes, Spirit-kun. I heard the racket they made in the demon sword's room. Something about the sun…"

"I can't see anything wrong with it, Shinigami-sama."

"Hmm, perhaps they have a gotten used to different sun."

"They're here, Shinigami-sama."

"Yes, I've noticed."

The Elrics ran in and screeched to a halt in front of the mirror. Edward was still breathing hard from the run. _Lucky Al, to have a body that doesn't tire…_

"Yo, sup. You seem like you're in a hurry."

Ed and Al looked up, and were completely startled by the figures in the mirror. The one who just talked; or rather, the one beside the person who didn't move his lips was cloaked in all black, with a white, cartoonish skull mask.

He spoke in neither an imposing tone that showed terror, nor an insane one that suggested sadism, but in a fun, cheerful tone that cut him further from what the Elrics expected to be "Shinigami", a tall dark figure with a skull mask who wielded a scythe.

"Well who wouldn't be," Edward asked, still tired and clearly furious. "Who the heck puts archways with guillotines on them in a hallway?! They might have fallen on us!"

"I do," Shinigami said again, smiling beneath his mask, though none present in the room could tell. "They only fall when I tell them to."

"Are you Shinigami?" Al asked the one in the skull mask.

"Of course," Shinigami said. He pointed to his companion in the mirror, the red-haired man in the suit and the cross necktie. "Did you think it'd be him?"

"Sorry," Ed said quickly. "We just arrived here and we hate to be a bother, but we'd like to stay for a while. Maka-"

"Maka?" The man in the suit asked with a bright grin now upon his face. "Tell her that her dad gives her all the love from the bottom of his heart-"

"SHINIGAMI CHOP!"

The man in the suit was down in an instant as Shinigami brandished a large white board-flat hand. The Elrics looked on, wondering whether this Shinigami really was a Shinigami.

"Is that Maka's father?" Al asked, now reminded of a certain man who near constantly showed off his picture of his daughter. If Elicia grew to Maka's age, Hughes would've demonstrated the same behavior regardless.

"Yes," Shinigami said, emerging from the mirror with Maka's father, Spirit, in tow. "He's also a death scythe and my personal weapon."

"Death scythe?" Ed asked.

"It's a weapon that has consumed 99 bad human souls and 1 witch soul. Are either of you new weapons or technicians?"

"Well, no." Ed said. "We're alchemists."

"Interesting," Shinigami said. "Though alchemy died out a long time ago, I'm not sure if there were any significant successes or breakthroughs in our history."

"Alchemy survived to become a building foundation in our world, though." Ed said.

"You're from a different world," Shinigami said. "I'm not sure if alchemy could still be used in this world, though."

"Watch," Ed said.

"Brother, let me do this. You had your chance in the State Alchemist exam," Al said.

Ed huffed. "Fine, just make sure to impress him."

"You're the one who's going to need to once I'm done with this." With that, Al clapped his hands and crossed them over the ground. An iron spear emerged.

"Impressive," Shinigami noted.

Al clapped his hands again and put it over the spear. It sank back into the ground.

"You could've faked stabbing him like I did with Bradley!" Ed said, disappointed.

"This is alchemy…" Spirit said. "Though I can't see any differences from witchcraft, considering that it can be used to turn lead into gold…"

"Alchemy is a science," Ed explained. "You turn something into something else as long as it contains the same atoms inside."

"I made the spear from iron contained in the minerals in the stone," Al said.

"This makes sense," Shinigami said. "Also, very few witches have shown interest in the transformation of substances. Your power could give us an advantage."

"I'm sorry, but I really don't understand the advantage you need." Ed said.

"Very well," Shinigami said. "I will explain. A few witches attacked Shibusen in an effort to release a demon sealed underground, the first Kishin, Asura. Asura was released and his release brought a dangerous spread of insanity upon this world. Witches favor destruction and this insanity favors their destructive instincts, giving them a much needed advantage in the future."

"Brother," Al said. "These witches are no different than the homunculi."

"…except that they only have one life to live, right?" Ed asked Shinigami.

"Correct," Shinigami answered cheerily.

"This should make destroying them much less work," Ed thought.

"It sounds like you've had more trouble with these homunculi than I thought." Shinigami said. "Aren't they just 'little men'?"

"Alphonse! Let me go!" Ed yelled as he was being restrained by his younger brother. "I am going to have to see this guy's real face with a broken nose for calling me so little that I could pass for a homunculus!"

"Edward, he didn't say that." Al said, embarrassed.

"Besides, you wouldn't be able to," Shinigami said, a bead of sweat somehow forming and rolling down his mask. "I'm a God of Death, remember?"

* * *

Note: Honestly, I do not hate, detest, despise, etc. Marie Mjolnir. Actually, I find it quite hard to understand why anybody in the nonfiction world would hate her, for that matter. It's just fun to put her in that sort of situation involving the Elrics. Ookubo must've deliberately given her gold eyes and gold hair as a laugh at Edward Elric and his simplemindedness involving the (short) complex.


	5. Chapter 4: The Corner in the Room

**Chapter 4: The Corner in the Room**

"Hey, hey, Soul, play the piano!"

"I want to hear you play, too."

"What song will you play?"

"Play something grand."

Despite the encouragement of his friends, Soul responded, "My playing isn't good enough to have people listen to it."

"But you let me hear it," Maka said. "It was really good that time!"

Soul Eater Evans huffed in exasperation. "It sounded good to you because you have a low musical I.Q."

"What?! Don't look down on trance fusion!" Maka said angrily.

This resistance brought no support from the others. On the contrary, it did exactly the opposite.

"Seriously? You listen to that stuff?" Liz asked disapprovingly.

"Dummy…" Her sister added.

"I completely lose academically, but for some reason, I feel like I just won." Black Star said, but could not put the usual gloating tone over this.

"I listen to it because I like it, so leave me alone!" Maka shouted.

"Right, Chrona? Ed? Al?" Maka then turned to the three.

"Uhh…we have no idea what it is." Al said, having joined up with the others after the discussion with Shinigami.

"We've been to the city for quite a while, but there was nothing called 'trance fusion' there." Ed added. "Also, we met with Shinigami."

"Really," Maka said, now interested. "How was he?"

"Totally different," the Elrics said simultaneously. "…from what we expected of course."

Chrona did not respond, lost in her own thoughts.

"Chrona?"

"Ah...y…yeah…" She stammered. "Well I'm going back to the dormitory…"

"Later."

"See you tomorrow."

_Is she really okay?_ Al wondered.

_For a mother to put her child in such a dangerous position_, Ed thought. _Just who is she anyway?_

"Oh yeah, Maka?"

"Yes, Edward?"

"Your dad said-"

"I don't want to talk about him. That womanizer makes me sick."

Ed nodded and followed Chrona and Al downstairs. He remembered the time when his dad was out of his favor. That hatred subsided to a new respect, when his dad trapped Pride under that dome of rock and went directly to underground Central to confront Father. And now, his dad was out of his favor again, when Edward met Marie Mjolnir. That woman was now effectively his illegitimate sister.

"I wonder what happened." Maka said after the trio left down the stairs. "Chrona looks kind of down."

"Really? Wasn't that the usual?" Black Star asked.

"And Ed," Maka added, looking at the downcast face of the alchemist in the red jacket. "Why does he look so down? He was alright when we found him inside Kid's mansion."

Ed and Al walked down the stairs, spending their time reflecting on the other things that Shinigami and Spirit told them.

* * *

"Witches can be characterized by their association with a certain animal, their long lifespan, and their usage of tongue twisters corresponding to the certain animal to activate magic spells," Spirit explained.

"In addition to this," Shinigami said in his usual cheerful tone. "There are no male witches, though witches from centuries ago started talking about 'male witches', or wizards, said to appear once every century."

"Their destruction and numbers have been kept down to a minimum by the efforts of Shibusen and our ability," Spirit said.

Ed and Al looked at each other worriedly.

"Is Chrona going to die?" Al asked.

"Chances of Chrona having to die due to our actions are very low," Shinigami said. "If Chrona openly declares her intent to destroy Shibusen and attacks us, then we'll have to kill her. As of now, I find that rather impossible."

"There was a young girl claiming to be her mother," Ed said.

Spirit froze at once. "What is she like?" he asked suddenly. _Medusa_…

"She looked like she really wished for Chrona's safety and asked us to protect her."

"Don't believe her," Spirit said quickly. "It is true that Chrona is her daughter, but she thinks of her as nothing more than a tool. I still can't believe it…how cold and heartless a mother must be to her own child…"

"This being claiming to be Chrona's mother is a powerful witch named Medusa," Shinigami said. "Medusa was the head honcho in the action leading to the Kishin's revival."

"Stein and I killed her though," Spirit said. "We even saw her soul get blown to pieces. How did she manage to-…no…this is impossible…did she break her soul then piece it back together?"

"It could've been enforced by the release of Kishin's insanity," Shinigami considered.

"One last thing, Shinigami-sama," Edward said.

"Ask away."

"Is the sun's appearance due to the release of Kishin's insanity?"

Shinigami and Spirit burst out in laughter. Both doubled over from the sheer hilarity of the question.

"This is serious." Edward said, feeling weird at how anybody could get used to seeing such an absurd sun.

"Alright…hahaha…it may have been…pfffttt…before that…ahahahahahaha…" Shinigami managed to squeeze out a few words.

"Hehehe…when the Kishin…ahahaha…first became…pfffffffffffttttt…insane…" Spirit managed to say that much.

"800 years ago…hahahahaha…" Shinigami managed to calm down a little.

"To comment the sun's appearance…hahaha…I can't remember…hehehe…how long ago…pfffffttttt…it was…hahaha…when Maka said that-"

"SHINIGAMI CHOP!" A white board-like hand flashed again and Spirit was doubled over, blood spurting from his head like a miniature fountain.

"Sorry, he gets off topic sometimes." Shinigami said.

* * *

"You better make up your mind," Ragnarok said. "Medusa's going to get pissed."

"Chrona," Al said.

"Uh, yes, Al?" the pink haired technician seemed nervous.

"I know it's really personal, but, do you love your mother?"

Chrona did not answer.

"Damn brat! We respected your privacy so you need to respect ours!"

"Sorry…"

The unnatural silence persisted until the trio came across a hallway marked with yellow tape.

"It looks like we're entering a restricted area," Ragnarok noted. "Who knows, maybe the secret vault room is around here…"

"Who's the one talking about respecting peoples' privacy earlier?!" Ed shouted. "Come on, Chrona, it's probably this way." He pointed down a hallway away from the yellow tape.

"Shut up! This is a family matter so you stay out of this!"

"Too bad we can't. Thanks to Chrona's mom, we need to stay and protect her now."

"Then you follow her down this restricted hall and protect her while she searches for the vault! Come on, Chrona, let's go."

"Tch, fine," Edward muttered, ducking under the tape.

"Brother," Alphonse said, crawling under the tape. "Considering Shinigami's words, what should we do?"

"We follow her," Ed answered. "Then we see for our selves."

"What should I do? What if someone sees me here?" Chrona asked worriedly.

"I don't even really know what you should do if you fall down." Ragnarok answered in his typical sarcasm.

"Don't worry Chrona," Al said reassuringly. "If the going gets bad, we'll protect you with alchemy."

"Who is it, who's over there?" Someone asked from behind the group. Ed and Al hurriedly turned around, only to find…

"Oh it's you, Chrona, Edward, Alphonse, what are you three doing here? This is a restricted area."

"This thing is crazy," Ed said, pointing at Ragnarok while Chrona struggled to find a legitimate answer. "It simply wanted to enter here and dragged us around to no end-"

"Who are you calling a thing you half-bug?!" Ragnarok replied heatedly, referencing Edward's antenna.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SOMEONE SO TINY HE COULD GET EATEN BY A _QUARTER_ OF A BUG?!!!" Ed yelled, attempting to punch Ragnarok. His voice echoed down the halls as the pain of the punch of an automail fist reverberated around Chrona's cheek.

"That's not what he said, Edward," Marie said, covering her ears, when Ed calmed down and apologized to Chrona. "You must be lost. I wish they would do something to fix Shibusen's hallways."

"But don't worry! Leave it to me!! I'll take you back to your room!" she said, smiling energetically.

"I wouldn't count on it," Ed muttered as Marie led Chrona in the direction opposite the visitors' room. "But considering the fact that we've got to follow 'Black Scar', I don't think we have a choice."

* * *

Two hours later, Marie successfully led them back to Chrona's room. All but Alphonse and Ragnarok were sweating heavily.

"Please let me know if there's ever anything else troubling you," Marie said, still smiling cheerfully. "I'll give you a hand."

"Except directions of course," Edward interjected.

"…yeah."

"Well then, goodnight!!" Marie said, walking down the hallway.

"The staff room is this way," Ragnarok pointed in the opposite direction.

Marie smiled sheepishly then closed the door.

Ed could not fathom it, but as the door closed, he found it difficult to glare at the woman he thought was his illegitimate sister. Her smile and optimism the past two hours reminded him of his mother, much like how his mother remained smiling and optimistic for the years she waited for his father.

The sun shined in as Chrona hugged her pillow on the bed. Ed pulled out a book in his coat, reminiscing on the calculations he made of his mother's chemical makeup.

A thought suddenly entered Alphonse Elric as he sat down pondering just how much Marie reminded him of the mother he lost, and the mother he failed to bring back.

"Brother, do you think mom's soul is in here?"

"Could be, considering that Shinigami-sama takes the souls that come in."

"Do you think that we could ask him- never mind." Al became aware of something sticky getting closer.

"Al?" Edward was now aware of the frog that climbed up on the windowsill.

"Eruka…" Chrona recognized the frog that climbed on the windowsill.

"Man, I don't really want to infiltrate a dangerous place like this," Eruka said nervously.

"Chrona, you know this frog?" Al asked.

"Ah, Fullmetal Alchemist," Eruka Frog said to Al. "What a pleasure to meet you. You make a really good bodyguard for our Chrona, you know."

"Um," Al said rather embarrassingly as he pointed at a fuming Ed. "You're talking to the wrong guy."

"Why is it that nobody ever sees me as the real Fullmetal…?" Ed asked himself. Then, something clicked in the Fullmetal Alchemist's mind.

"How did you know who we were?"

"A friend of yours chanced upon us," Eruka answered. "What was his name again? Ah, let's see…Alex Louis Armstrong…Yeah, that's it. Quite the muscular one, and a helpful one at that."

"Anyway, have you discovered the general location of the secret vault?" Eruka asked Chrona.

"This is impossibleeeee…I can't do this anymooooreeee…" Chrona moaned.

"Even if you say that to me," Eruka said. _Well, Medusa?_

_Chrona, you're doing well_, Medusa said telepathically, while simultaneously receiving Eruka's mental message. Of course, Chrona received the message, worried what Medusa would say next.

_Well then, I'll give you a different mission_, Medusa said telepathically again. _Where is Professor Stein right now?_

To the Elrics' surprise, after the long silence, Chrona talked, now to nobody in particular. "I don't really see Professor Stein, so I wouldn't know, but…Marie-sensei's become his partner, so it looks like they've been spending a lot of time together."

_Marie…_, Medusa considered. _What kind of person is she?_

"She's really kind and she's always looking after me..." Chrona said. A blush was visible on her cheeks.

_What is going on here?_ Edward thought.

_Is this telepathy?_ Al wondered.

_Oh, is that right?_ Medusa thought evilly. _Well then, let's take advantage of that kindness…_

_Eruka, give that thing we talked about to Chrona._

"Medusa said she appreciates your efforts to protect Chrona," Eruka said to the Elrics. "Well then, see you around."

Eruka was gone, leaving the Elrics to wonder what happened to Major Alex Louis Armstrong.

* * *

Notes:

The title to this chapter obviously references the corresponding manga chapter in Soul Eater. I could think of no other title for it.

This chapter is not meant to introduce a possible crossover pairing with Marie Mjolnir involved. This is just a comparison to Trisha Elric.

'Black Scar' refers to the black, reinforced possibly-carbon-composition of Ragnarok's body, and the X on his face.


	6. Chapter 5: Microphone and the Holy Sword

Pre-note: Sorry for the extra long chapter. I had to squeeze a lot in.**  


* * *

**

**Chapter 5: ****Microphone and the Holy Sword  
**

"Marie-sensei," Chrona waited near the front gates of Shibusen, holding a pen in her hand.

"Ah, Chrona! What's up?"

She stammered at a loss for words.

"Is there something you need from me?"

"Well…to be honest…could you listen to what I have to say?"

"Do you want to come to my place?" Marie asked as Kim Diehl and her partner Jackie said goodbye. "Let's take our time talking over a cup of tea."

"Y…yeah…" Chrona replied nervously, a near-dark, delirious expression over her face.

_There's a microphone in that pen_, Medusa communicated to her daughter. _Plant it in Professor Stein's research lab._

Nobody noticed Chrona's smile of insanity surfacing once more.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Edward and Alphonse walked out of Chrona's room, now aware of what happened. Armstrong would always work for the peoples' good as a true peoples' man, despite his title as the Strong Arm Alchemist. He would never ally himself with Medusa and her cohorts, after seeing the magic that they could do. He's seen witches before in the old Amestris textbooks. No child would possess that much power; the Elrics learned that after witnessing Selim Bradley.

"If Armstrong really is in their hands," Ed said. "We need something strong enough to take him back."

"Armstrong is powerful," Al said. "He'll never let himself be captured by them."

"He's too noble," Ed said, "and they'll find ways to control that, which is why we go to where we always go."

"The library," Al finished.

Both Elrics were amazed by the size of the library. This one had shelf on top of shelf, with the occasional lamp between levels. Having been amazed, the Elrics looked for suitable books.

"Weapons and Soul Wavelengths," Al said, picking up the said book.

"The Timeline of Scientific Events," Ed muttered, flipping through the pages.

"Hey Ed, let's try this." Al said, pointing to a said diagram.

"Wait a minute Al, there's all these inventions that don't exist in our world. This could help." Ed replied. "Look further while I look for alchemical arrays."

* * *

In Patchwork Laboratory, an odd building with stitches crisscrossing its outer walls, Marie laid out two teacups as she and Chrona sat on two stitched sofas with a stitched table in between. Ragnarok looked around. There was nothing but scientific instruments, bottles, and diagrams, with the occasional stitches.

"Well, it certainly could use a woman's touch," he said.

"Something I have to worry about is that if I overdo it, Stein will get angry," Marie replied. "Chrona, are you worried about something, too?"

Chrona stammered. If she said she was worried, questions would be pressed on her and Medusa-sama would get angry. And her nervousness would've made "no" a fairly suspicious answer.

"Hey! Why don't I get tea?" Ragnarok demanded.

"Huh?" Marie wondered. "Ragnarok, you don't have a mouth, so how can you drink?"

"Idiot! I have one!! I can drink!" Ragnarok shouted, opening his mouth. Marie couldn't help being surprised.

"Sorry about that, I'll put the tea on now, okay?"

"Take your time."

"Okay Chrona, do it now." Ragnarok said to his technician.

"Y…yeah…" Chrona put her hands on the pen.

* * *

"That didn't work Al!" Ed said. He had been concentrating as hard as he could on the common bond with his brother.

"But I definitely felt the energy." Al said.

* * *

"Do you like sugar in it?" Marie suddenly asked, causing both Chrona and Ragnarok to jump, if Ragnarok's reaction could be called that.

"S…salt, or pepper…make it spicy." Ragnarok said, heart racing.

"O…okay…got it." Marie said, shocked by her intrusion on her guests' conversation.

* * *

"I felt it too." Ed said. "But look, nothing happened! The dirt didn't move an inch."

"Maybe it's restricted within a certain area." Al said.

The brothers went outside, where they tried it again, to no success. After a while, they went back in.

"We felt that energy but we couldn't release it." Al put his book back on the shelf. "Could it be like that moment when Father sealed off our alchemy?"

"No arrays in here," Ed said as he looked around. "Hmm…this one's interesting."

* * *

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Marie said as the drinks bubbled in a rather sinister fashion. "Now then, let's get started. What did you want me to talk about?"

Both Chrona and Ragnarok focused on the pen, now placed in a test tube holder.

Marie sipped her drink. Chrona and Ragnarok stared.

"Well? What is it?" She asked.

"Y…yeah…it's…it's nothing…" Chrona stammered as she sipped her tea and Ragnarok downed his.

* * *

"Excalibur?" Al asked, looking at the book.

"Yeah, Al," Ed said. "It says the hero who pulls out the legendary sword is given wings of light."

"Who wrote this?" Al wondered. "Excalibur?"

"That means that it's either a pen name, or that he really exists." Ed said. "Now where to find him…"

* * *

Night came, and the moon shown in the sky with it's round eye, pointed nose and blood dripping out of its grinning, maniacal mouth.

"Thank you…I…I…f…f-f…feel better now…" Chrona stuttered.

"Really?" Marie asked happily. "I always feel happy when I talk to you too, Chrona."

"Well, it's getting late, I should go home…" Chrona said.

"Feel free to come over anytime."

Ragnarok chucked. "That went well," he whispered to Chrona.

* * *

"Al, look up." Ed said at the foot of a waterfall.

"It's the moon." Al said.

"It looks insane." Ed added, staring at it.

"I can't wait for the next new moon."

"Enough moon-gazing, Al, we can look at it when we get back. We have to get Excalibur before it's too late."

"Well you know what to do," Al said as he and his brother clapped their hands and touched ground.

* * *

"Hang on. Wait, Chrona," Marie said as Chrona was about to leave. Chrona and Ragnarok jumped again, if that could be said for Ragnarok.

"What is it, Marie-sensei?" She asked nervously.

"Isn't this your pen, Chrona?" Marie asked, holding out the pen.

"Yes…"

"Get home safely!" Marie waved goodbye.

Chrona could only look nervously at the white pen with the black arrow marking, as she had done her job.

* * *

The Elrics had arrived at the top of the waterfall via transmuting a pillar of stone, remembering to put the pillar back into the ground to avoid any other unnecessary users. A cave stood at the top as the two walked in. Stalactites dripped water down into the water-filled path below.

A fairy, no bigger than the palm of Al's hand, flew towards the Elrics.

"Um," Al asked. "Is Excalibur up ahead?"

The fairy's expression was normal for a moment, and then, suddenly, as a vampire opens its mouth to bite down on a victim's neck, its face scrunched up into an expression of utter annoyance that would be termed by fans as the "Excalibur face."

"It seems really annoyed." Ed said, as he and his brother walked past, "But why?"

They arrived at the stone altar where Edward recognized two people, both with one distinctive blond curl on their heads. Both were just about to leave the altar.

"Major?" Al asked.

"Careful," Ed said. "It could be a trap."

"Elrics, how happy I am to see you!" Major Alex Louis Armstrong roared in joy, embracing both Elrics. Truth to be told, the Elrics have never been so happy to see the Major. "…it's him…" Ed said, barely audible.

"Alex, you can stop now. The red shrimp is suffocating."

"Major General Armstrong?" Ed asked, nearly out of breath.

"You ended up here too?" Al asked. His lower waist was deformed into compression. Ed had to stretch his arm to transmute the blood seal and restore Al's shape. "And why are you leaving the holy sword?"

Both of their faces scrunched into the "Excalibur face." It seemed miraculous how Major Armstrong was able to scrunch up his, considering his usually cheerful demeanor.

"Ooooo-kay," Ed said, at a loss for words. "See anybody else you know?"

"No luck other than with this useless piece of crap." She said bitterly.

"Do not insult your dear brother like that." Major Armstrong said.

"You dare talk back to your superior officer?!" Major General Armstrong asked angrily.

"As you can see, we're not in Amestris anymore and your rank holds no bearing." The younger Armstrong said.

"In which case, I assume command." Olivia Mila Armstrong said with authority. "A spineless baby like you would probably lead us directly toward danger."

"You know what, Al?" Ed asked. "Let's go to the holy sword."

"Alright brother," Al said.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Major Armstrong said.

"For once, I agree." Major General Armstrong agreed grudgingly. "Mine's so much better."

"Then Al," Ed said. "You lead them to Shibusen and I'll take the sword."

"No Ed, you lead them and I take the sword. You always leave me to do the nasty stuff."

"We'll find this Shibusen ourselves!" Major General Armstrong said angrily.

"You don't know the way, dear sister."

"Shut up! I'll find it!"

"The residents here are capable of magic." Al said. "They can destroy your sword and your gauntlets."_ That seemed convincing enough…_

"Then why aren't you destroyed yet?" Major Armstrong asked.

"We managed to ally with a few of them." Al said. "So it would be best if you wait."

Before either of the three knew it, Ed walked over to the sword and pulled it from the ground easily.

"That was easy. Well now, let's get going home, shall we?"

"Wait," Al said, suddenly. "Let me give it a try."

"Alright," Ed said, putting the sword back into the ground. "But still. I am the true hero and you know it."

"We're not doing this for recognition," Al said as he put his hands on the sword. "We're doing this to save the world and go back to our home. This is the key to instant victory."

Al pulled it so hard that he lost balance and fell over, holy sword still in hand.

"Are you sure that hole wasn't too big, Al?" Ed asked. "Both Armstrongs pulled it out, right?"

At this, the Armstrongs' faces scrunched up again. Major General Armstrong headed back to search for a spot. Major Armstrong huffed in exasperation before following. A flash and Major Armstrong created two makeshift beds for the night.

_**The sword began to glow with a radiant light…**_

"You've come far, young ones!!" a voice boomed.

"Is this…?" Ed asked.

"I am the one called Excalibur!"

"…the legendary holy sword?" Al asked.

_**...and transformed into…**_

"Lame," both Elrics said unenthusiastically.

…a completely white creature of an indiscernible species with a top hat, frill at the neck, snout, large round eyes, a cane, and a coat and no pants.

"Who are you?" the creature asked.

"Edward-"

"Alphon-" Ed's brother said simultaneously

"My legend started in the 12th Century." Excalibur cut the Elrics off. "Hmm…you don't look like techs, and I don't think you're weapons…except for the suit of armor…"

His eyes drifted to the Flamel Cross on Al's shoulder. "Alchemists!" he said joyously as he pointed his cane at the Elrics. "It's been such a long time since I was able to meet one. Did you know that I was crafted with the help of your methods?"

"Anyway," Excalibur continued. "Do you wish to hear of my legend?"

"…sure," Al said cautiously.

"What is your favorite number from 1 to 12?" he asked.

Ed thought for a moment. "One," Al said, "because all is one and one is all. This is the foundation of alchemy-" Ed scowled.

"Baka!" Excalibur pointed its cane at Al. "Who gave you the right to choose? My legend started in the **12****th** Century."

"You gave us the right to choose, dumbshi-"

"BAKA! You do not talk when I talk." Ed was cut off again and could not help but fume at this creature.

"Alright, you must learn 1,000 tasks to be able to wield me. Number 1: my mornings always start off with a cup of coffee. Number 2…"

_I guess we have no choice but to listen to him_, thought a greatly dismayed Al as Excalibur got to "Number 15." Ed was already slumped on the ground and Al's dread increased with the realization that his body did not need sleep.

"BAKA! You do not fall asleep when I talk!" Al sighed as Ed struggled to stay awake. _This was going to be a long night.

* * *

_

Chrona walked into her room and took a pillow from her bed. She walked past the Elrics' sleeping bags on the floor to "Mr. Corner", that is, the one to the right of the door, sat down, and buried her face into the pillow.

She remembered walking into the dark alley to meet Eruka. The snake she poured into Marie's cup contained a bit of Medusa's demonic power. Marie's proximity to Stein would increase the dissection-happy scientist's insanity.

She heard their conversation about her, of how Chrona was having fun and Chrona's friends, with the occasional word of Ed and Al in between.

"Chrona's got all those friends, after all. I'm glad I became a Shibusen teacher." Chrona's teeth chattered at those words, of how much they loved her, and how much harm she put them in.

When she left, she heard Eruka's words: "Medusa will surely praise you."

As she became aware of the shadows settling in to the moonlight, she imagined Medusa-sama's open arms welcoming her, for the first time. The thought made her squeeze her pillow tighter. She smiled in insanity again.

And then the thought of Marie-sensei came back, and she cried.

* * *

Morning came, and Edward's eyelids were drooping. Al sat there, looking at the glowing hole shining through the roof.

"…and that covers just about everything, any questions?"

Ed slumped down in deep sleep and Al piggybacked him again. He heard the Armstrongs rising and did not bother to ask anything, considering the amount of time that they would waste if they asked anything.

"Then, let's go together!!" Excalibur proclaimed, transforming back into his sword form, "for victory and glory!!"

"About time…" Ed muttered, before falling back asleep. Al took Excalibur in his hands...

…and thrust it back into the ground and rushed back to join the Armstrongs, trying hard not to hear the legendary sword's protests.

"Elric! What were you doing?! You stayed up all night for the legendary sword and you toss it back just like that?! Do you know how many troops I could've commanded to take over Central right now?!!!"

"Well Major General Armstrong, considering the trouble it put us through in the cave, I'd hate to experience the sort of trouble it'd put us through on the battlefield."

"I don't see how anyone could wield a sword while thinking of all 1,000 tasks at the same time." Major Armstrong said.

"And we couldn't get out. Excalibur kept talking and wouldn't let us leave."

"Must be due to the fact that you're alchemists," Alex Armstrong added.

"Tch, fine," Olivia Armstrog muttered.

As the four were about to exit the cave, they met a fairy.

"How was Excalibur?" it asked.

All four faces scrunched up into the "Excalibur face", including Al's. Their expressions stimulated the same one in the fairy. Excalibur would not go away this day.

The faceplate of Al's body deformed through an overnight combination of sheer annoyance and sheer insanity.

And with that, Al had to walk out with a permanent "Excalibur face", carrying a sleeping Edward who could not transmute his faceplate back to normal, leading the Armstrongs to Shibusen.

_This was going to be a rough morning.  
_

* * *

Notes: Sigh* more emo Chrona moments. I just had to include that. Putting it with Excalibur didn't make a good combination, but I hope it at least brightens up the dark mood.

First the sun, now the moon. The Elrics need to gaze at the moon in the Soul Eater universe sometime, right?

I have always wanted to put Armstrong with an "Excalibur face" and Al with a permanent "Excalibur face" just had to be coming, considering the deformed statue underneath Shibusen.

I somehow get the feeling that I put in a lot of not-so-good transitions of thought. Please advise me and I will change them.

I have such a pathetic sense of humor. T_T


	7. Chapter 6: The Day before Brew

**Chapter 6: The Day before Brew**

"It appears that Arachnophobia has located one of Eibon's creations: the demon tool 'Tempest', nicknamed 'Brew.'" Shinigami stated. "If they gain possession of it, their attacking power will increase to near unfathomable amounts.

"The enemy will come in forces to obtain 'Brew'. Stein-kun, this will be a big battle, so it's imperative that you help the students progress in the duel arts.

"Also, find the Elrics and make sure they are able to participate as well."

* * *

"I am truly amazed at how you managed to change your faceplate without alchemy, Alphonse Elric," Major Armstrong said looking at Al's faceplate.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Al said, still annoyed. The change in the faceplate's structure reduced his vision to a permanent squint. He took of his helmet to regain his vision.

"Where is it, Elric?!" Major General Armstrong asked, already impatient with having to walk in the steaming desert. "I said this before: just give us the directions and we'll follow!"

"If you just barge in like that, they'll take you as enemies."

"I can deal with a few enemies."

"That's not the point, sister."

"Shut up."

"Besides, how did you two arrive here?" Al asked.

Alex Armstrong recalled mowing down the artificial soldiers, before one's mouth grew to epic proportions and swallowed him whole. Soon, he saw a part sliced off, letting in the light. He exited the "head" of the one-eyed humanoid, only to exit the cave of Excalibur, and rushed back in, hoping to return to Central, but reconciled with his sister instead. The two walked further into the cave, found Excalibur, and were forced to spend the whole day listening to his endless rambles. Neither soldier ate that day, since Excalibur identified the Major as an alchemist.

"I also entered through the 'mouth' of the creature," Major General Armstrong noted.

"We all entered here through strange methods." Al noted, "But why us?"

"Perhaps it is at the will of the writer," Armstrong said. "The reason anything happens to any character in a book-"

"Stop talking nonsense. As you can see here, we are not in the pages of a book. We are in an endless desert stretching to who-knows-where, with a suit of armor leading us to some place we don't know!"

"He's a suit of armor that you trust."

"No he's not."

"But-"

"Shut it."

Al stopped and pointed at a mound in the horizon.

"There it is."

"About time," muttered the Major General.

* * *

"Mabaa-sama," one witch said. "The great-male-witch-sama radiates great power!"

"That is true," the said Mabaa-sama replied. "His patience tries my temper, though. No matter how powerful he is, my spatial magic can send him to the other realm."

"But Mabaa-sama, we need his powers against Shibusen."

"We can gain additional power by using another circle to bring in another male witch from another realm."

"Mabaa-sama, wasn't there only one male witch per century?"

"It is true that there is only one male witch per century. But who is to say that our world is the only one that goes through that century? Draw the circle and move into position."

As the witches drew the circle and moved into their positions, one witch noticed something odd.

"Mabaa-sama, the great-male-witch-sama is gone!"

Uproar wreaked havoc in the witch assembly, and Hoenheim had heard all the words of dissent of the head witch through a hole in the wall leading to his underground box of stone. They had grown accustomed to his absence from their meetings, and now doubted his authenticity. As he allowed the flow of rock in front of him to curve around the walls and accumulate behind him, he pondered where he should go next.

_Such destructive power and instinct is not without opposition. I will head towards an area where opposition appears to take hold._

* * *

"THAT IDIOT BASTARD!!!!!!!!" Maka roared as she ran from her group.

Tsubaki bonked her technician on the head disapprovingly.

"Sorry, Tsubaki," Black Star said apologetically. "Can you take care of it?"

"Yeah."

As she was about to rush to comfort Maka, however, the group noticed a figure approaching from the trees behind. His Asiatic face was darkened with what seemed to be tiresome days of stress.

"What now? Is someone else going to criticize me for 'lack of teamwork'?"

"Black Star, just stop it." Soul said, irate.

The figure collapsed, black clothes and all.

"Oh well, I guess he just collapsed from my godly aura."

"Tsubaki, get Maka. We'll take care of him." Soul said. Tsubaki left for Maka.

"He collapsed?" Patty asked.

"He's pretty good looking though," Liz noted.

"We need to at least help him to Shibusen," Death the Kid chided.

"…so…hungry…" The spiked ponytail seemed to move.

"I'll get the food," Liz said suddenly.

"He spoke," Patty noted amazingly.

"…not symmetrical…" Kid said in disgust at the teen's hairstyle: the spiked bangs only covered his right side.

"I never thought I'd meet foreigners who'd be so kind to help out," Ling Yao said gratefully, turning his head as his bangs fell to cover his left eye. He stopped talking suddenly. "Am I going to die? There's cold, black _ki_ from the guy with the three stripes on the left side of his hair. Is he a shinigami?"

Death the Kid gasped in sheer terror and fell to the ground, pounding the floor in depression.

"I'm such a worthless hypocritical pig who obsesses over symmetry yet can't follow through symmetry himself. I deserve to die…"

"No, Kid, don't say that. He's just commenting on your appearance," Liz said comfortingly, returning to her technician.

"Besides, you're more symmetrical than he is. Look at his hair." Patty said cheerfully.

"Alright," Kid said, regaining his composure. "I've got to welcome Maka back. I can feel her coming and her soul wavelength is resonating better."

With that, Kid and the Thompson sisters left to join Black Star and Stein, leaving Ling to chew on leaves.

"I'm sorry!" Maka shouted, "For screwing up the mood!!"

"YEAAAAHHH!!! LET'S DO THIS!!" Black Star roared spiritedly.

"YEAH!!"

"Food…"

Everyone turned their heads at the black-haired Xingnese.

"Maybe we should carry him to Shibusen and then finish team soul resonance," Maka suggested.

"I'll get Sid," Stein said, carrying Ling.

* * *

"Brilliant, Al," Ed said, irritated and now awake at night. The Armstrongs went ahead into Shibusen to meet Shinigami.

"Come on, Ed," Al said, helmet back on and vision squinty again. "It's homeless and needs something other than garbage to eat."

On the ground was a black cat, wearing a witch's hat and mewing playfully.

"You know, Al," Ed said. "That cat just gives me a bad feeling, like it's deliberately standing there and waiting for us to pick it up. Come on, Al, let's go."

"This one's unique, brother, you just don't like cats."

"It's not that I don't like cats, Al. It's that this habit is going to grow and you will be picking up random strangers like that. This one might be a witch, if you look at the way it balances the hat on its head."

At this, the cat's eyes got teary.

"Aw, look, brother, you made it cry." Al picked up the cat, which started to rub playfully against Al's chest plate.

"The answer is still no, Al. I'm surprised it didn't run away, considering the weird state of your faceplate."

"But look, it has no home to go to. Isn't that right?"

The cat mewed cheerily and jumped into Al's armor, marveling at the emptiness of the inside.

"Fine! But this is the last one!"

"No brother, there might be many more."

"We're not pet owners running a cat homeless shelter, Al. We're alchemists saving a country that's about to be turned into a stone and a world about to be devoured by insanity- Oh god, _no_."

The pair noticed a familiar Xingnese with his characteristic black hair and ponytail.

"Edward-kun…Alphonse-kun…" He was tired, but still smiling. And he noticed them instantly, giving a weak wave.

To top it off, a silver-haired man with a large screw through his head was carrying him into a restaurant.

"Come to think of it," the man muttered in a manner reminiscent of Shou Tucker. "This one has an arrogant and ambitious, yet caring soul. This guy is like a friendly version of Black Star. Still…"

"…and he just had to get himself caught up in a mess like this." Ed was furious. "Come on, Al, he's being fed, he can take care of himself."

"But Greed's inside, remember? This is our chance to get something out of Ling."

"Tch, fine."

"Are you the Elric brothers?" The man with the screw through his head turned to them.

"That's a friend of ours you're holding." Ed said, with some hostility.

"Really? That's nice. I work for Shibusen as a teacher. Let's get inside and eat. I'm Stein, by the way; Dr. Franken Stein."

He looked at the faceplate on Al's armor. "So you've met him."

"Yeah, it's a long story." Al had no other expression to offer.

* * *

Seconds after they had ordered their meals, Ling ravaged eight dishes and was still going.

"Ahh," he let out a refreshed sigh after feeling full. "I feel like I've been brought back from the dead."

"Eating like a pig as usual," Ed said, finishing with his fourth bowl of beef stew.

"You aren't really one to be talking Edward. Look at how many bowls of beef stew that is." The cat with the witch's hat came out of Al's armor and was licking up milk.

"You're the one who shouldn't be talking, Ling." Ed took note of the dishes Ling was eating.

_Edward Elric's soul is a hotheaded and stubborn one. _Stein took note of the Elrics' souls. _Alphonse's soul is a gentle, kind one, yet bounded by rationality; somewhat like Tsubaki's._

"Well, I'll go back to supervise my students," Dr. Stein said, standing up. "Meet up with me in the clearing uphill from here after you finish. Sid will be here to watch you."

"Sid?" Ed asked, and as soon as the stitched white coat of the teacher fluttered out the door, he was immediately met by a towering blue-skinned figure.

"Yeah, that's me. I'm also an instructor at Shibusen. Even after being revived and given a chance for another life, I did not leave the school. That's the kind of man I was when I was alive."

Neither Edward nor Alphonse knew what to say to this…zombie. This was a product of someone's human transmutation, someone's _successful_ human transmutation. Either that or it had to be someone from the Blue Man Group trying to blend in with street clothes, and that did not look plausible.

"Al, where's Stein?"

"He just went out."

Ed exited the restaurant in a rush.

"Brother!"

* * *

This left Sid Barrett to talk with Ling Yao and the cat.

"Ah, this will be a heavy tab. Still, a strong soul needs a strong mind and a strong body. Shibusen needs strong souls now and that comes first. That's the kind of man I was."

"Interesting, you've got an immortal body. I have one too."

"Well, it's more of a revived body that doesn't age. Wait, how did you get an immortal body? Are you from the immortal clan?"

"It's a long story."

* * *

"So you came." Stein smiled.

"How did you perform a successful human transmutation?" Ed asked.

"If you are talking about Sid, he agreed to this procedure. And that's not exactly a human transmutation, as you attempted."

"Then what- wait, how did you know?"

"Your brother's armor is hollow. It is likely that the equivalence of both sides of the equation was unsatisfied.

"I was just finished with my students over there, and was going to move on to you two."

"Wait," Edward looked at the group walking away from the clearing. "That's Maka and Soul; Black Star and Tsubaki. The other three I don't know."

"So you've met them. The boy in the suit is Shinigami-sama's son, Death the Kid and the other two girls are his weapons."

"They were the first we came into contact with when we arrived in this world."

"Have you noticed their power?"

"Other than Soul transforming into a scythe, I haven't really seen anything."

"This power is hidden within the soul and its bonds to other souls. I will teach you how to unlock that power."

* * *

"And that's about it," Ling said as he, Sid, and the cat exited the shop in the dark of the night.

"So you were the prince of a country called Xing," the cat said.

"Yeah- hey, you can talk?"

The cat transformed into a human form donned in a witch costume.

"I wanna live in an awesome palace with a prince!" She grabbed the 12th prince's head and stuffed it into her bosom.

"A witch!" Sid acted immediately.

"Bu-tan is not a witch! Bu-tan is a cat with strong magic powers!" Blair pouted. Sid relaxed a little.

A black streak passed and the cat was within the point of a blade sticking from an elbow. Sid felt the metal of a kunai at his neck.

"Commoner, do not touch the prince with your filthy hands!"

Ling was released immediately, blood still pouring from his nose. "Ah, Ran Fan, you're here too?"

"Prince," an old man stood next to the young girl.

"It's alright. They're allies." Ling replied.

Fu released Sid from the kunai. "Are you alright, prince?"

"I'm fine. Let's get going-ow!" Ling clutched his head.

"What's wrong?" Sid asked.

"Greed's coming back. Guh! And his will is stronger!"

"I can see it," Fu said worriedly. Ran Fan nodded in agreement. "The worst part is that we're his bodyguards and there's nothing we can do about it."

"I'll carry you to Shibusen's medical ward," Sid said.

"No need. I can stand just fine." The bangs swayed again to cover Ling's right eye and he, no, Greed, stood up. Greed was back and the Ouroboros tattoo was visible on the back of his left hand.

"I had no idea how it came to this, but everything was white and I ended up here, back in the body I belong in. Where is this place?"

"Death City, Nevada," Sid answered.

"No idea where that is. Huh, take a look at this." He grabbed onto one of Blair's breasts. "Pretty hot chick, aren't you. Would you like to work for me?"

A body bounced off the walls, grabbing their attention. The body hit another body, which fell back to hit a suit of armor, which then ended up crashing down on Greed.

"Maka?" Sid looked at one of his students lying on the ground, and then at Black Star, whose arm was still outstretched.

"Don't worry about it, Sid-sensei. She asked for it."

"I did," Maka said, smiling with a large bump on her face.

"Why me too?!" Ed asked, with his voice strained from the impact.

"Sorry pipsqueak! I didn't see you there."

"I AM NOT A PIPSQEAK!!!" Edward pushed Maka off, clapped his hands, and liquefied the ground underneath Black Star. Black Star barely jumped off of the liquid earth…right into an overhead lamp transmuted during mid-jump…and fell back into the liquid earth before Edward solidified it, standing over the self-proclaimed god's head sticking out of the ground.

"Who's a pipsqueak now?"

"Grrr…" Black Star struggled to break the earth but only managed to produce a few miniature cracks. "I let it easy on you!"

"Yeah, yeah, keep talking, we're all ears." Ed said sarcastically.

"Edward Elric, free Black Star at once!" Death the Kid said urgently.

"What?"

"There is something wrong with that kid. We met him earlier, but he now displays a soul different from before."

Edward transmuted the earth, pushing Black Star in his earth box upward. Black Star broke out.

"That presence surrounds the boy prince's soul. No, I can say it is almost like the demon sword."

"Don't worry, he's an ally."

"Who's an ally?" Greed emerged with his maniacal grin, dragging Maka and Alphonse. "You are _my_ workers."

* * *

_Extra_:

Death the Kid and Black Star took their moment to observe Al's faceplate. "So you met him," the two said simultaneously.

"Yeah," Al said. "Brother, could you transmute my face back to normal? It's really hard to see."

"Okay, fine," Ed said, as Alphonse opened his chest plate, revealing absolutely nothing inside other than residue chain mail. Both technicians gasped.

"He's still human," Ed said as he touched the blood seal on the inside of the back plate. Alphonse's faceplate was back to normal.

"Finally, my vision is better."

* * *

A/N (Yes, _now_ I start to use Author's Note): My writing isn't going well. This is a part that is pretty hard to transition.

I couldn't call that last block above an _omake_. It wasn't good enough.

But at least Brew Tempest is next. :)

Gaahh, I need a lot of proofreading on this...


	8. Chapter 7: Brew Tempest: The Beginning

**Chapter 7: Brew Tempest: The Beginning**

The circle complete, each witch chanted her mantra. Ten minutes later, a flash of white light appeared in the center and a man with white hair, red eyes, and an X-shaped scar on the face appeared.

"The true great-male-witch-sama has arrived!"

And Scar understood their words as he heard their cheering. Having left after defeating Envy, he walked down the hall to Father's lair, only to be transported here, to a place where witches still hold power, to a place where witches speak the language of Amestris.

They led him to Las Vegas, where they would create the Great Human Purge of the age. As Scar walked on the path to the bright city, he found the same look in each of their eyes. Each of them hungered for destruction. They were the same eyes as that of the homunculi, who set the motion for the ruin of Ishval.

"Oh God of Ishval who created all, please forgive these many heretic souls and accept them into your bosom." He said in the old dialect of Ishval.

The witches could not understand what he was saying. Was it Arabic? Was it Jewish? Was it some combination of both?

"Who would the great-male-witch-sama like to kill first?"

A few witches had already come up to the _Welcome to Las Vegas_ sign, each expecting to kill some humans. Scar grabbed one witch with his right arm, the markings in his arm flashed, and the witch's body became a fountain of blood.

The witch assembly was in chaos once more. The remaining witches flew into the air, poised to strike at the killer.

"You have nowhere to go, you heretic witch. You can't move to the sides and you can't fly up. Where shall you go now?"

At this, Scar put his right arm to the ground. The markings flashed again and a small hole was created. He fell down the hole and broke a path at random away from the witches, remembering to close the gap from behind.

As he struggled through the sea of sand, a hole broke through the side and a man with gold eyes and long gold hair emerged.

"The Fullmetal alchemist's father…?"

"You're the Ishvalan…"

"You met the witches too?"

"Follow me. I can sense opposition to that destructive group of witches this way. Feel free to sit on the mound of dirt, because this is going to be a long and fast ride…"

* * *

Roy Mustang woke up in a bed he was not used to. It was a plain room with stone walls, a bed, and a door. The room resembled a jail cell.

Something felt odd about Mustang that he simply could not put into words. He was still in his military uniform and his gloves were still there, but when he got up, his black hair felt different, like it was slicked. There was also something ticklish under his nose that would probably feel like a moustache. _But I don't have a moustache…_

The door flew open and a pink-haired girl brandished what appeared to be a cross between a miniature furnace, a lantern, and a flamethrower.

"Adolf Hitler, Nazi dictator, for your crimes against people and murderous role in World War II, I will be taking your soul!" She shouted.

"What the hell is this-?"

A miniature burst of flame shot in and flew out the window. Mustang acted quickly, donning his gloves and about to snap his fingers when he saw, to his amazement, a rather short alchemist on the floor, laughing to all his content. He had never been so irritated in the thirty years he was alive.

"So this is _your_ doing, Fullmetal?" He brandished his fingers.

"Well," Edward said in a smart-alecky fashion, standing up. "Colonel Sarcasm needs to get his share of the butt every once in a while, considering how he always fed it to me."

"Sorry, Mr. Mustang, it was my idea." Kim Diehl giggled. "You were out cold for a while too."

"How long?"

"About twelve hours."

"You haven't grown at all, Fullmetal, still short as ever."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HE COULD PASS FOR AN ELF, JERK!"

_This little dog barks loud_, Roy thought in exasperation as he removed the Hitler moustache and messed up his hair into its usual spiked bangs.

* * *

"Eat fast, Mustang. We've got a big agenda to fill today."

"Fill me in on the details, Armstrong."

"We are to retrieve a powerful weapon. Future battles could turn deadly if we don't."

"Is the power difference about that of the Ishval annihilation campaign?"

"No, it's possibly greater."

"Where will it be?"

"In the north…"

"Alex, Mustang, we're about to leave."

"Ahh, Major General Armstrong, how nice to see you here too."

"Shut it, Mustang. Why weren't you back at Amestris commanding the troops?"

"I'd ask you the same thing."

"This is an order from a superior officer. Why weren't you at Amestris?"

"Pulling rank? Oh well, I saw this white flash of light and for some reason, I came here looking like someone called 'Adolf Hitler'."

"Acceptable enough…"

* * *

"'Brew' rests on 'Lost Island', north of Alaska. In the past, witches had a construction facility for demon tools there," Shinigami proclaimed to the squad. "But an accident annihilated the facility, creating a magnetic field especially rich in demonic power in the center of the island, into which humans can't venture.

"Demon tool 'Tempest', nicknamed 'Brew', is in there. Anyone who stays in there for too long will have their bodies destroyed; but the same goes for our enemies.

"The longest anyone can stay in there is 20 minutes. It's a battle to obtain 'Brew' and a race against time!"

* * *

Shibusen's army of technicians and weapons headed to the island in boats. In one boat, Stein and Marie lead the six technicians and their weapons. In another boat, Greed stood at the back, observing his "crew". Edward steered the boat, while Alphonse tried to keep away from the water.

To his misfortune, Mustang had to share a boat with Armstrong, who, surprisingly, wore a black coat for the cold. Major General Armstrong led another squad, within it Buccaneer and Miles, while Sid led a third, within it, Hawkeye. The three Amestrisian soldiers had somehow been transported into the midst of their squads.

"The plan is just as we discussed it a few days ago. You remember it, right?" Marie asked.

"Of course," Greed replied. "For something deserving of a battle like this, that 'Brew' belongs to me."

_It's useless. You don't have a soul, Greed._ Ling said within.

_Oh shut up. It's valuable, so I want it. Got a problem?

* * *

_

The groups landed on the island, and Stein proceeded to recount the plan.

"Sid-sensei and Major General Olivia will lead his squad to suppress Arachnophobia while we head towards the magnetic field for the demon tool." Stein explained. "However, only Marie-sensei and I will go into the field itself. Your mission is to standby outside of the field and wait for our return.

"This is going to be a huge battle, but you're elite weapons and technicians picked out from all the one-star students. Also remember that among you are four alchemists, three recognized by their state, all with military experience, so fight with confidence."

"Buccaneer, Miles," Major General Armstrong said. "This is just another battle. Lead the troops to defend. Show them what Briggs can do!"

Both soldiers saluted. Buccaneer revved up his automail.

"Don't lose your focus!" Sid said, carrying crossbow-sniper hybrid Azusa on his back. "Because of the influence of the magnetic field, we won't be able to sense souls or use our radios."

"Yes sir!"

Something slammed into a soldier in Sid's group. Everyone readied themselves in the direction the object came from. Arachnophobia soldiers ambushed them and fighting ensued. Sid managed to take one with his knife while Hawkeye brandished two pistols and started to pick them off with headshots. Then…

"Sid!! Look at the group in the ruins below!"

"What is it?"

"That samurai is here! He's on the verge of annihilating the unit!"

"Nygus, I'm hunting some big game. Head to the designated point after you've given instructions to the squad."

"Understood."

"And you…Riza Hawkeye was it?"

"Yes sir?"

"Take it from the other side."

* * *

Justin Law zoomed down from a slope with his snowmobile. Giriko and his fellow enchanters all panicked. "IT'S AN AVALANCHE!!!"

"Sorry! I was talking in a loud voice, so the vibration set this thing off!!"

"That guy…" Giriko recognized him as the one who stepped in to play hero for that Shibusen squad the day at Loew village.

"Oh look," Justin noted. "It's an enemy squad."

Golems and enchanters alike were buried under the snow. Giriko himself turned to 3rd gear and pushed the snow away from him.

To everyone's surprise, some got swept away by water.

"Oh, God," Justin moaned as he hung from a nearby tree with an arm attached to a guillotine blade. "My specially-tuned snowmobile got swept away."

Giriko gritted his teeth.

At the same time, a certain man with an X-shaped scar on his face surveyed the two weapons. One had a gear insignia on his long worker's gloves while the other wore priest clothes. To Scar, it looked to be a symbolic battle of machine and religion, very similar to the Ishval annihilation.

"Get down here, you noisy priest. I'll turn you into sawdust."

"So we meet again…"

"Oh god Ishvala who created all, please grant us salvation."

Giriko turned around at the voice, the voice of another believer. He hated those believers, after and especially after having to deal with Justin Law. Justin himself turned to look where Giriko turned to look. The man there was shivering from the cold, yet his pants bore the same cross Justin himself wore on his clothes. The red eyes held determination, something he had not seen in a long time.

"FELLOW WORSHIPPER," Justin yelled as the bass played in his ears. "SIDE WITH ONE OF YOUR OWN AGAINST THIS HEATHEN!!!"

To Giriko, this was going to be a long battle that he wasn't going to enjoy one bit.

* * *

"Marie-sensei and I will be entering the field. Standby here and wait for us," Stein said once the technicians and weapons met up with the alchemists and Greed. "Listen up, if we're not back within 20 minutes, use Jacqueline to send out a signal for Shibusen to retreat. Mustang will be sweeping the soldiers out there and will be preoccupied."

"If we do that, what about you and Marie-sensei, Professor?" Maka asked. "Enemies will come into the field too. We'll go into the field and help you."

"If we enter the field with a lot of people, the battle will only get bigger," Ox explained. "If the battle becomes protracted, both sides will be overwhelmed. The enemy doesn't want that either. And you're at the top of the class?" This left Maka with a rather flustered look.

"Al, we're following." Ed said.

"I'll follow then." Al said. "You stay here and use alchemy to form a wall. This body will not get affected like yours by the magnetic field inside."

"The major can do that," Ed replied. "I'll go with you because I'm the only one who can bring you back, just in case."

"Don't worry," Stein said reassuringly. "If we use Marie's 'ability', we can be back in 5 minutes regardless of how many enemies there are.

"We're off."

"Wish us luck," Marie added.

"Al, let's go." Ed said after Stein and Marie have gone in.

"Right."

The Elrics disappeared into the cyclonic field, leaving the six Shibusen students with two alchemists.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mifune wasn't getting enough out of the Shibusen attackers. One by one, they came like flies, and one by one, they fell.

On one side, Sid loaded Azusa and aimed. On the other side, Hawkeye loaded her sniper rifle under the cover of snow and aimed. Simultaneously, both pressed their triggers.

Mifune deflected both bullets and the opposite cliff collapsed by mere misfortune. A series of swords embedded into the cliff, allowing Mifune to skip upward with both large scabbards full of swords.

As Sid ran from Mifune, Hawkeye picked herself up from the snow and started picking off Arachnophobia soldiers. She caught the glimpse of a golden haired man as she did.

"Thank you, Mr. Hoenheim."

* * *

5 minutes passed, and the hands of seven people near the magnetic field pressed near the lantern Jacqueline. Kim was already contemplating on charging for it when Mustang manipulated the oxygen to make the fire bigger to include his and Armstrong's hands.

As Black Star and Kilik Lunge fought over a candy bar, Maka tried to sense the four soul signals that were lost inside the field.

"Would you be able to sense their soul signals in a magnetic field like that?" Kid asked.

"There's a lot of noise, so I can just barely make it out, but…something's happening inside."

"Alright, I'll go see what's going on inside." Kid said. "Because I'm a shinigami, the magnetic field probably won't affect me. Liz, Patty, you stay here."

"Wait! It's dangerous to go alone…"

"We'll go too!" Black Star said.

"What about Professor Stein's orders?" Ox asked.

"If I go too, I can't give the retreat signal in 5 minutes." Kim replied.

A throwing star zipped towards Maka's head. Ox deflected it with Harvar.

"It seems we've been detected by the enemy." He said as forces charged toward the group, "Perfect."

"Only foot soldiers?" Mustang observed, "Just right. My gloves were getting wet from the snow."

"Stone soldiers too?" Armstrong observed the moving chimney-like golems, "Made easier."

* * *

"We'll take care of this," Ox said. "You guys head into the field."

Ox Ford lanced away soldier after soldier with the lance. "Indoors we're bookworms," he remarked. "Outdoors, the Lightning King IS A BEAST!

"And with that, I offer my love to you, Kim. Please respond to my love." He finished.

"…maybe if you get rich like Mr. Mustang or something," she said, embarrassed. Mustang smirked at this and snapped his fingers. Six soldiers went down in an instant.

"Guess it's back to studying when I get back," Ox said lightheartedly.

"If you take the ride, you've got to pay the fare!" Kim shouted as she released Jackie's flames. She and Ox took down multiple soldiers.

"Hey, Black Star," Kilik said. He handed a candy bar. "Eat this to keep up your stamina."

"Nice, I'll hang onto it till we get back," Black Star said, salivating.

"Eat it," Kilik said sternly.

"Back soon," Black Star and Kilik knocked fists.

"Kilik," Armstrong shouted. He had already dismembered multiple golems with his alchemy and was punching miniature craters into their chests as electricity crackled around the transmutation circles on the back of his gauntlets. "Take down the foot soldiers. I'll handle the golems."

Kilik seemed concerned. The gauntlets that Armstrong wore seemed like weaker, lifeless versions of the Pot of Thunder.

To top it off, the enchanters standing on top of the golems were laughing.

"Hah, what do you think you're doing?"

"You took off the arms, but you can't break the shield. Any fool would know to go around."

"Hmph," Armstrong said smiling. "Look behind you."

Soldier after soldier was laid to waste by a series of sharp projectiles created from Armstrong's alchemy and the stone used to make the golems. An entire squad was led to death. All the enchanters turned around and gaped. Their golems were being used by the enemy as artillery against them.

"BEHOLD!" Armstrong roared, taking off his shirt in a split second, pink sparkles made even brighter by the white snow. "THIS IS THE ALCHEMY THAT HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR _GENERATIONS_!!!" He punched the golems heatedly and roared as sharp projectiles took down enemy soldier after enemy soldier.

"Amazing…" Kim took a look at Armstrong and blushed. She held Jackie and barely had to release any flames for enemy soldiers to fall. Mustang's oxygen control took care of that.

"I don't believe this," Ox said as he pierced another soldier and flooded him with electricity.

"He actually did it," a drop of sweat rolled down Mustang's face as he snapped his fingers again, laying more soldiers to rest.

More golems were coming around and Armstrong could not handle all of them alone.

"Let's shove it down their throats, Fire, Thunder," Kilik said, "Soul Resonance."

He gathered a load of fire and lighting into his hands and forced it at a nearby golem. "Aphex Twin!!"

* * *

Edition: 2

A/N: Finally started on Brew. It's irritating having to think about Armstrong taking off his shirt in this one and never actually writing about it.

I have no idea why I'm begging for it now, but please R&R.


	9. Chapter 8: Brew Tempest: Insanity

**Chapter 8: Brew Tempest: Insanity**

"I've heard about it in the stories, my father in the 'Grim Times'; that was his appearance before Shibusen was built." Death the Kid said upon entering the magnetic field.

"So that is 'Shinigami'? I can see why people fear him."

The trio turned around to find two black-suited ninja-like figures. One was an old man with a sloping moustache and a headband and the other wore a hood and a mask.

Black Star readied Tsubaki.

"We will not attack you unless you try to attack the prince." Fu said sternly.

"Prince? Wait a second…is it that same guy who collapsed?" Black Star asked.

"That would be him. Where have you seen him?" Ran Fan replied.

"He was here, or at least, until he started calling himself Greed-" Black Star seemed irritated.

"Good enough," Ran Fan cut off. "But inside this field, the flow of life is distorted. I can barely sense anything."

"Ran Fan, turn this way and look." Soon, Fu was throwing kunai at five mice that ran toward the pyramid. Ran Fan and her grandfather soon followed in hot pursuit.

"Crazy old man chases after mice. I wonder what happened with him." Soul wondered.

"Wait," Maka asked, taking another look. "Could they be…?"

* * *

_Please, listen, I only want to talk._

_I don't want to listen! They said that I'd become fuel to a new Kishin! And now you will become Kishin one way or another! It would've been better had I gone with __**that person**__ instead, rather than to join you in madness!_

_I cannot become Kishin. My body is not human._

_I realize that! Are you Kishin to begin with?!_

_No, I am a container of souls. Right now, there are 536,329 other human souls within me, besides you. I will never become Kishin, because when I ate you, I made you a part of my personal community of souls._

_Your community?_

_In other words, my body; the other souls were all ripped out of their bodies. They, and I, were from a civilization many hundred years ago. Feel free to talk to them if you like._

_You are from an ancient civilization? And I can talk to them?_

_Yes. I am also an immortal, though I'd be better off not being one._

_Who would want to throw away such an existence? Us humans wanted immortality…we seek it!_

_It is much more painful than anybody would imagine._

…

_What is your name?_

_My name is…

* * *

_

"Good luck, Mizune." Eruka said at looking from the edge of a cliff at the typhoon. "Eibon-sama, Arachnophobia is being pushed aside by the two state alchemists. Shall we interfere?"

"No, we will not battle," Father said, head and shoulders emerging from the cliff. "But I will do something to make sure Shibusen is worn out."

The rest of his body followed to stand upon it. He was completely unnoticed by the other troops and took a step in the soft snow. A strong force of wind seemed to radiate from that point.

* * *

"Is the magnetic field changing?" Buccaneer asked, as his Crocodile automail cut into an enemy soldier.

"I don't know. But what seemed to shoot out from the field certainly felt like it." Miles wondered as he swung a sword dropped by a fallen soldier.

"Must've been the wind…" Another soldier fell from chainsaw damages.

"No wind would explode from a single point though…" One more was cleaved.

"Maybe it's the alchemists…" Arachnophobia lost two more.

"I really hope so." The numbers increased again.

* * *

Sid hopped off a pillar and dodged another swing from Mifune. He fell into the snow, sending up a burst of white in the process.

Mifune discerned a mound moving away from the pillar. "You sneaky bastard…"

He kicked a giant scabbard of swords, sending the blades raining down into the mound…  
…only to be deflected from their intended paths by a certain blond general.

"To be able to deflect all those swords," Mifune noted. "You are quite skilled."

"Is that so?" Olivia Armstrong asked, brandishing her sword. "Come at me."

"Sid-san," Azusa Yumi asked. "Is she going to be alright, dealing with that samurai…?"

"Take a closer look into her eyes," Sid said, as he started off to rendezvous with Nygus. "These are the eyes of someone who knows what she is up against and brings all she has to face it."

* * *

"Witches…" Black Star noticed a group of robed women in pointed hats walking past the three.

"It looks like they can't see us," Maka noted.

"Look at them carefully," Kid said. "Their forms are blurred.

"I'm just guessing, but…it seems that the strong magnetic field left by the accident at the demon tool construction facility has somehow imprinted what was going on in this area at the time.

"However, if you consider that my father was over the pyramid earlier, and this situation we're seeing, was this really an accident?"

Another witch walked by.

"That's…" Soul saw the figure.

"Spider Witch Arachne!" Maka finished.

They witnessed two robed men, evidently subordinates of the witch. One had Eibon's blueprints in his hands.

"Heh, we've lured Shinigami here quite nicely." Arachne stated. "All that's left to do is blow this facility up, along with everything related to 'Brew'."

* * *

Meanwhile, in Baba Yaga's Castle…

"The alchemists are wiping out our forces, Arachne-sama!" One Arachnophobia worker reported as he poured wine into his mistress's glass. "There are only two of them near the magnetic field and they've already taken down three squads!"

Arachne looked troubled as she stroked the black-haired child lying on her lap. Then, another Arachnophobia worker entered.

"Arachne-sama, the alchemists' transmutations have stopped and the battle is evening out!"

"That's better. But do whatever it takes to obtain 'Brew'. Everything of Eibon is packed into it. It 'is' Eibon."

"For 800 years, you've kept Shinigami's gaze away from 'Brew', correct?" A man with an eye patch fingered his sword as he stood in front of the web.

"Yes, King Bradley, I blew up the facility to erase it from that era. However, Eibon's greatest masterpiece cannot be destroyed by a mere explosion. After 800 years, neither the witches nor Shibusen will obtain 'Brew'.

"I will."

* * *

Mustang snapped his fingers for the fifth time. Nothing happened for the fifth time. Armstrong punched a golem again, again, and again. Nothing happened again, again, and again, except for the miniature craters in the golem's chest.

"Dammit! Why isn't it working?!"

"We can't perform transmutations with our alchemy!" Armstrong immediately started to punch any nearby soldiers, still managing to take out a couple. Mustang stood behind the other Shibusen students as more soldiers surrounded them.

"Even more are coming!" Armstrong tried punching the golem's chest again. The only result was a small crater. The alchemical sparks present before were gone.

"Your energy source must be cut off for the reactions not to happen," Ox thought aloud. "Before long, the 20 minutes we agreed on will be up. Kim, send out the retreat signal. I'll cover you."

"They're doing something! Target the girl!" Arachnophobia soldiers headed for Kim.

At this, Armstrong switched to the defensive. His large bulk was able to cover both a blind spot in Ox's and Kilik's formation and Mustang at the same time.

"Change pixy," Jackie announced as Kim pulled a pole reminiscent of a witch's broom from the lantern's main body. Four feathery wings, two on each side, emerged from the sides of the lantern's "face".

"Launch!" Kim took off, leaving Ox, Kilik, and Armstrong to defend. Arachnophobia soldiers jumped up to attack, only to be taken down by Ox. A golem reached up. Armstrong tackled it into the snow. Kilik sprung off from the golem's arm.

"Ox!" Kilik shouted. Armstrong jumped back to defend, while Ox rushed forward to attack.

"Resonance chain," Ox and Kilik said simultaneously.

Ox attacked the shoulder with a Lightning King Lance. Kilik jumped up and pounded down with a Lightning Flash. The resulting Thunder Combination broke the golem to pieces.

And with that, Kim thanked the three and flew up into the sky.

* * *

Major General Olivia Mila Armstrong had never fought a more difficult enemy. The samurai Mifune sent blade after blade from his bazooka of a scabbard in her direction. Every time she parried a blade, he would send the same blade from another angle towards her with the one in his hand. If he had that much skill and the area was strewn with blades that she had deflected, she was in very much trouble.

Their fight had carried on to another part of the ruins filled with the wreckage of houses. Major General Armstrong was strewn with cuts here and there, yet Mifune was completely unharmed.

She charged forward again, going for a stab. He swept it aside, pressed it down, and, with another sword, slashed at her head. She ducked, tilted her sword at a steeper angle to block, and was forced back by his swing.

Armstrong hit a wall and was just in time to see two swords aiming for her head. She parried one and dodged the other. A sea of swords came next, and, as she ducked and parried the lower ones, they struck the other swords, which then pinned her shoulders to the wall. She was now rendered immobile and incapable, and would die as such.

Mifune saw this and rushed in, only to detect the smell of gunpowder and jump back, barely avoiding running into a land mine.

_How lucky_, Armstrong noted sarcastically. _I'm saved again because people care about me. These current situations are essentially the complete opposite of Briggs._

The samurai skidded back into a wire, and deflected the stakes fired at him with his sword.

"I believe I ordered that if I were about to die, I were to be left behind!" The Major General shouted indignantly.

Sid's hands popped out of the snow, grabbing onto Mifune's ankles and holding him in place. "Sorry, Major General. We had an opportunity against an enemy and we seized it. Plus, we try to prevent any unnecessary loss of life. Now do it, Nygus!"

Bandages swung a pillar directly at the upper body of the samurai. He drove his sword into the ground, shedding some blood and injuring Sid's shoulder, but was unable to make him let go. The pillar made direct contact and Mifune was sent flying several meters. Azusa took this opportunity to head for the Major General and pull out the swords pinning her.

Sid popped out of the snow and Nygus transformed into a knife. Taking Nygus in his hand, he rushed toward Mifune, who barely recovered from the hit. The samurai blocked it with his right forearm and with his left, he stuck it into Sid's sword wound, deepening and intensifying it. In one motion, both retracted their arms and backed up. Mifune drew a sword.

"So that's it," he said. "When I watch you, I can understand how there could be a kid who grew up to be like Black Star."

"You're a professional," Sid acknowledged. "I don't hate you. It'd be a shame to kill you. Can't you think of another way for that arm to thrive besides with an evil organization like that?"

Mifune put his other hand on the sword, readying for a fight. "That's too bad," Sid said, drawing Nygus.

He was interrupted by a flaming Shinigami skull mask in the sky. "That's…the retreat signal. Our side has no reason to fight you anymore. Does that cool your blade down? Do as you wish.

"But if you let me leave this place, I might target you from the darkness again."

Mifune sheathed his sword with a smile and allowed Sid to run away. "Interesting…go."

* * *

As the signal for retreat sounded outside, peace seemed to be assured. However, on the inside, things were far from peaceful.

Stein clutched his head in sheer insanity as he leaned upon Marie for support. Neither Edward nor Alphonse was able to make progress either, as Al suddenly fazed out, for the third time.

"Al," Ed said worriedly, knowing the blood seal binding his brother's human soul to the nonhuman armor was weakening. "Don't die on me, Al! We're going to get our original bodies back, remember? Al!"

In Stein's head, he saw the Kishin's insanity get a stronger grip on his head. Within the darkness, he remembered Shinigami-sama and Spirit-senpai; death scythes Marie Mjolnir, Justin Law, and Azusa Yumi and Sid and Nygus; and finally, his students, who respected and looked up to him, the strongest technician in Shibusen.

"Franken, get a hold of yourself!"

And the insanity seemed to affect Ed, too. He had had numerous encounters with insanity before: his foolish attempt to resurrect his mother, his impulsive thought of binding Al's soul to a suit of armor…even the motivation he had of passing the state alchemist exam was insane. All of it was now coming back to him.

But this was on a whole new level now. This was not just any insane thought he encountered before. His vision became cloudy as the last day he spent inside the Tucker mansion resurfaced from his memories. It was a day that came back in his dreams again and again, a day he wished he would never have to see; after everything else, he had nearly left it with the pile of other memories.

"_Do you think you're going to be forgiven for something like this?! For…toying with human lives?!!!" _Edward recalled roaring back then.

Even as he opened his eyes and saw Marie trying to support her partner, Stein's lip movements as he talked resembled that of Shou Tucker.

"_Human lives?! Ha ha! Yeah, human lives!" Tucker's eyes reeked of insanity as he spoke. "Fullmetal Alchemist! Take a look at your limbs and your little brother!"_

Edward punched angrily with his right fist, his right automail fist, at empty air.

For a moment, something completely ridiculous, something that could never happen within the physical bounds of even the magnetic field, was coming to mind. The head with the screw through it seemed to be replaced by the buzzed, whole head of Shou Tucker.

"I'm losing focus…unthinkable things are coming to mind…" Stein was evidently struggling to clear his head as he glared at a weird squirming arrow in Marie's body.

But Edward heard none of those words; he saw only a flashback of Tucker's bleeding face smiling insanely at his own.

"_Aren't those the results of your so-called 'toying with human lives'?"_ Ed saw that Tucker's head had replaced Stein's. As ridiculous as it may sound, this was utterly serious. As Stein moved his mouth to speak, Tucker's moved to say something completely different. _"We're the same, you and I!!"_

"You're wrong!" Edward shouted. Marie and Stein both turned to look at Edward, who seemed to shout at the professor. They seemed concerned that the brash, tough alchemist was breaking underneath the insanity more so than Stein was. Alphonse was still incapacitated.

Edward seemed to clear up a little, relieved to find that he was only yelling at Stein, whose head was now clearing as his did. "What are you doing here, Elrics? I didn't give you orders to come in."

"_No, I am not!"_ Tucker's head was back again, the same insane face stared down at the Fullmetal Alchemist, the equally insane voice blocked out Stein's. _"You saw a possibility in front of you and you just had to try it!"_

"You're wrong!" Edward shouted again, staring directly at Stein's face. Both Marie and Stein were now concerned for his mental wellbeing.

"Edward, what are you saying? Neither of us asked you to come in. We're not wrong. Go back outside." Marie stated sternly.

"_And even if you knew it was banned, you couldn't stop yourself from trying!"_ Tucker's insane face overrode Stein's as his voice overrode Marie's.

"You're wrong!" Edward rushed up to "Tucker" and punched him in the face. The insanity now seemed to fade slowly, as Edward realized that who he just punched was not Tucker, but Stein.

"Ahh, thanks for jogging my head, Edward Elric." Stein had now come to his senses and was barely cranking the screw on his head as Tucker's voice seemed to drift away in echoes. "Remind me to dissect that automail arm of yours later."

Maka, Black Star, and Death the Kid now caught up with Stein and Marie. The image of five rats still lingered on Maka's mind, but was now replaced by worry for Stein and Marie.

"Professor, Marie-sensei, Ed, Al," Maka was concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Evidently not," Edward cut in as he clapped his hands and touched the ground. Nothing happened. "Dammit, _that_ happened again?!"

"What are you doing?" Stein asked. "You're acting against our orders…"

"It's been nearly 20 minutes since you entered the magnetic field. You should leave quickly." Maka explained. "Your bodies will start to break down."

Marie took notice, as her hand suddenly appeared to blur.

"What about the demon tool?" Black Star asked.

"We still have more than 10 minutes left," Kid explained. "We'll look for the demon tool."

"Let's go." Black Star rushed ahead.

"You should evacuate quickly," Maka followed her teammates.

Marie tried to call them back, and noted that both she and Stein were starting to fade away. Edward was fading away too, yet he still tried to drag Alphonse. He placed a hand on the blood seal on his brother's back, in an effort to transmute the suit of armor and reduce the volume, to no avail.

"Edward, he's not going to fade away. When he comes back, he'll know to leave." Marie said.

"No…the blood seal will weaken…I must…no one else will…" Edward struggled to drag the suit of armor as he was fading into an afterimage. Seconds later, he fell to the ground unconscious.

"You…didn't have to do that Marie…" Stein noted as she hoisted Edward over her back and supported Stein simultaneously.

"Al's the only one who isn't affected," Marie said. "At the very least, one more of us will be able to escape. I'll get someone else to carry him out. If I chase them I'll just die in vain. I'm going to kill those brats later!"

* * *

Edition: 2

A/N: Phew, these chapters are getting longer and longer. So many ideas and almost no way to split them into chapters.

The dialogue within Hoenheim was irritating, but had to come. I loved writing the Shou Tucker flashback, though.

Care to guess the mystery soul Hoenheim absorbed in your next R&R?


	10. Interlude: Another Witch Conjuring

Preface: This interlude will contain references from the _Harry Potter_ series and the _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy.

* * *

**Interlude: Another Witch Conjuring**

For the fifth time of the century, the witches sat at their circle of animals and rearranged the animal order. An infant with a pentacle drawn around his naval was placed in the center as sacrifice. This is a ritual the witches have done since the beginning of their foundation. Today, they will not fail. Today, they will bring a true male witch, a wizard, a _Merlin_, into being.

The third that came was an old, white-bearded wizard with long robes and half-moon glasses. The minute he arrived at the witch circle, he welcomed them with open arms, and they welcomed him: his white beard and pointed hat signified some connection with the wizard Merlin himself. He enjoyed their humor and company, feeling satisfied that there were other witches in the world…until they led him to a Las Vegas strip club, at which he grimaced in utter disbelief and vanished with a crack, leaving behind the same baby they tried to sacrifice. This act of near instant disappearance is termed by J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter fans as _disapparation_.

That day, one strip club was saved from the witches' wrath.

The fourth turned out to be (another) white-bearded wizard, except with no pointed hat or half moon glasses, but with a gnarled staff and robes snow white, stirring up distaste in the witches, as he resembled a human priest. They led him to Las Vegas, proposing destruction. He responded with magic of his own and struck the ground to attack the witches and defend the city behind him. Several witches fell unconscious to the roar of "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!" And then he vanished, leaving the witches desolate once more, with the baby and the pentacle and a fading, but strong, magical barrier around the city.

It had never been this difficult before. The male witch always came at their beck and call, as long as it was once every century. It had failed four times already; no other male witch left without causing massive destruction in the vicinity. Questions rose among the witches at the next conjuring. Was it due to the Kishin's insanity? Was it because spider witch Arachne was revived? Could it be prisoner Number 13, the Devil's Eye? Was it a combination of either of the two or all three?

In any case, the witches moved to their positions, chanted their spells in tandem, and a white flash appeared in the center. The baby vanished and was replaced by a relatively young man with long black hair and a white suit. He seemed like the fourth one that came in his white clothes, yet the sinister look in his eyes and black ponytail made them doubt otherwise. On his palms were two circles with triangles inscribed. In one triangle was a circle with a dot in the middle. In the other triangle was a crescent.

And while Shibusen and Arachnophobia battled on the grounds of Lost Island, Zolf J. Kimblee would become part of this little witch comedic charade of transfigurations.

Earlier, he was just heading towards a giant dirt mound to rescue Pride from imprisonment. Now, he stands in the center of some transmutation circle, with robed women in pointy hats bowing down to him.

_I am on an important job for this country and now I end up in an occultist group. Oh, well, they look like they could be of some help._

"Excuse me, but do you know where I am?"

"Nevada, great-male-witch-sama."

"Male witch? Isn't the term for that normally a wizard?"

"I am sorry, great-wizard-sama. Rule over us witches and lead us to destroy the humans that attack us! Joma, joma, dabarasa!"

"JOMA, JOMA, DABARASA!!!" The witches cheered. Kimblee relaxed to the sounds of their worship, though inside, he yearned to make something explode. For this moment, at least, he will sit back and relax, enjoying this little comedy.

* * *

A/N: This story may need some editing every now and then, so do not complain if some things in the plot get changed.

Scar is Ishvalan, but as this is Earth and Ishval does not exist on Earth, I will arbitrarily assume that he looks Arabian-Jewish. No racism intended. Seriously.


	11. Chapter 9: Brew Tempest: Fight

**Chapter 9: Brew Tempest: Fight**

Maka, Black Star, and Death the Kid headed towards a door in the pyramid, at the foot of which was a short, probably one-foot-tall old man with a pointed nose.

"There's someone there."

"Is that an afterimage too?"

The old man turned his head to look directly at the three.

"He's looking this way," Black Star said. "Now that I look carefully, I've met him before…that old man."

"What's that he's holding in his hand?" Maka asked.

The old man carried a small briefcase. "I thought I'd find some people from Shibusen, but…you're some really small agents…"

"Give us the demon tool you're holding," Kid ordered. "If you do that, we'll let you go."

"Let me go? Let me go, you say?" Mosquito asked. "Now I understand how that little alchemist in your ranks feels. He's been stirring up a racket in here because his teammates have been 'looking down' on him, so to speak."

"Forget about whether we're looking down on you or not, take a look at your own body." Kid said.

"What?" Mosquito now noticed that his body was becoming an afterimage.

"Judging from your appearance, it seems you're at the limit for time spent in this field," Maka explained. "We still have 10 minutes left. We can already see our victory in this battle. There's no need for us to attack you, because if you don't leave this field, you'll be spontaneously destroyed!"

"I see, this old body has a limit of only 20 minutes, eh?" he wondered, putting the suitcase in his hat, "…same as an ordinary human, eh?

"I see, I see. Fine, I guess I'll revert to a younger age." He donned his hat. "400 years back? No, 100 should be plenty…"

The tiles around him rumbled as he crunched his arms and buzzed like a loud mosquito. An aura flared around him as his soul shone in clear view. His arms became larger and more bulky.

"RESPECT YOUR ELDERS!!" Mosquito roared. "THIS IS MY FORM FROM 100 YEARS AGO!!"

The overcoat was completely blown off by the mass of upper body muscle he exhibited. His miniature, still untransformed legs dangled from his upper body as he stood himself up on his two arms like a gorilla.

Mosquito breathed out. "With that, I should have another 10 minutes, too. It's even."

"But only his upper body got large," Black Star did not look impressed. "He still has those puny legs. Is that how it's supposed to be?"

"I dunno…" Maka was apprehensive.

"Ask the man yourself." Kid said.

"Now that I look at you, you're blood looks delicious." Mosquito said, nose wiggling. "I'll enjoy its flavor until I'm full."

The Shibusen students, however, were preoccupied with a robed figure walking down the path.

"Who the hell is this guy? Another afterimage?" Black Star asked. "What's he doing appearing at such an important time wearing a watering can…?"

"I can't tell if it's an afterimage or not." Maka replied.

Mosquito took one look at the figure and recognized him immediately. "This person…is Eibon."

* * *

There was the sound of crying. A baby was crying. And Edward heard its cries. He tried to rush over, but could only walk at a calm, slow pace towards the direction of the cries. He didn't even feel the need to run, despite the obvious feeling that he should.

Yet, this was a peaceful environment that was not upset by the cries, despite the fact that he was fighting on the battlefield. There were colorful blue and white striped walls and a baby's crib lay nearby. And Al…

Al was there, different, but definitely recognizable, and in his human form. His hair was long and hints of grey started to show on the sand blond hair that he, too, wore in a ponytail. He seemed to have gotten his body in good shape after the years it was preserved in the Gate. Much to Edward's chagrin, Alphonse was actually taller than he was, now about the height of his armor body.

Standing behind Al was a couple, a man and a woman he did not recognize. The woman had Al's brown gold eyes and was growing to look somewhat like Winry. The man looked familiar in a way that he couldn't put his finger on. In the woman's arms was a baby.

"Look brother," Al said, in a voice deep with age. "This is our grandchild, my daughter's and son-in-law's girl. Her eyes and hair are gold, just like our father's, just like yours."

And Edward felt no resentment for Van Hoenheim as he looked at the baby girl. She opened her eyes and looked at him, laughing joyfully. Edward smiled the first smile he had in a long time, the first smile that truly knew peace. Both her eyes were golden but there was something strange in her left eye.

The left eye was gold, just like the right eye, just like his, and she was growing some long hair as well. But then, there was still something strange in the baby's left eye. Edward bent over to look. He tried to draw back, but couldn't. He could only look into the baby's left eye. It was strangely calm and refreshing, like his mother's.

That ended there as he was sucked into that left eye into a void of swirling black and red. Several hundred meters around him, a snake circled with its tail in its mouth.

_An Ouroboros_, Edward thought grimly at the image of the homunculi's symbol circling him.

He looked down. A spider, probably containing the mass of ten humans, was weaving a web that stretched into the nonexistent ends of the void.

The world flipped upside down and Edward was still in the center of the Ouroboros. Nothing had changed, except that the spider, which was still on the same side of its web, skittered several hundred meters away from him to the circumference of the circle, in other words, the Ouroboros itself. It descended slowly on its web to meet the snake as Edward looked from afar.

The spider landed on the Ouroboros's head, timed exactly so that it should and poised its upper segment back. Its mouth opened to show teeth as it bit down on the snake's forehead, attempting to inject venom into its blood and render it unconscious.

Unfortunately for it, the spider's teeth broke, and the act only agitated the snake more, which then spun faster, forcing the spider to its tail. The snake opened its mouth, letting go of the surprisingly perfectly-conditioned gold end of the tail, passed it, and bit down on the spider, swallowing it whole.

This led to even worse results as the void began to shake uncontrollably. The snake roared and started to move about in an elliptical pattern, soon breaking that pattern to move in a completely undefined pattern than before. The snake, in its madness, opened its mouth as it shot directly for Edward, who, unable to move, did the old alchemic habit and clapped his hands-

Turbulent winds blew into the face of the young, fifteen year-old Edward Elric as he was carried from the magnetic field. He opened his eyes from the bizarre nightmare, and then, tired from the ordeal, closed them again, thinking of only one person: _Al…_

* * *

Outside the field…

"The professor and Marie-sensei didn't come back, so Maka's team went into the magnetic field. Kilik and Ox are in battle."

"Azusa, gather ten people who are well enough to move," Sid stated. "We're going to rescue them."

"Y…yes, but those wounds…"

"_I'm_ going to rescue them," a gruff voice interjected. "The soldiers of Briggs live in the snow. Each of us individually can move more effectively than any of your ten men and survive better than all of them combined."

"If that is the case, then I go too." Miles followed Buccaneer as the latter headed towards the magnetic field.

Near the magnetic field, Ox and Kilik stood among the fallen bodies of the enemy Arachnophobia soldiers. Armstrong was finally beginning to realize that it was cold and looked around for his jacket as his muscled body shivered slightly.

He found it at last, buried underneath a heap of enemies. A gauntleted fist lifted in the air and came smashing down on the ground. Nothing happened again. Armstrong simply huffed and got to work tossing the bodies aside to take his coat from underneath.

The magnetic field crackled again. Mustang was the first to take notice as Stein and Marie pulled through and fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"Kilik, Ox, Mustang, watch over the professor," Marie said, handing the Fullmetal Alchemist to Mustang.

"What are you doing, Marie," Stein's form blurred as his face lay in the snow. "Just because you've come out of the magnetic field doesn't mean the effects will disappear. You'd just die, in vain…"

"Then what about those kids?!"

"Are the rest of them still inside?" Kilik asked.

"Leave it to us," Ox said.

"F…fools!" Marie stammered and made herself clear. "Absolutely not!! I'm not letting anymore students go in there! If you won't obey orders, I'll give you failing marks in every subject! You'll be expelled!"

Both students stopped. "What do we do, Ox-kun?" Harvar asked worriedly. "For you to get a failing grade…"

"There's no need to hesitate, Harvar-kun," Ox replied.

"What a silly question," Kilik said.

"To protect your comrades," Ox finished. "That's what it means to be a Shibusen student."

In one movement, both of them entered the field.

"Wait-" Marie was suddenly held back by Roy.

"Let them go," he said. "They understand what is important to them, so let them achieve it. If they don't, they lose everything."

In this, Roy Mustang remembered the attack on Central. That one movement to overthrow a puppet state would put him on the throne as the next Fuhrer, purifying the corrupt government. If he failed, the lives of Amestris's civilians would be the millions of lives sacrificed for the next Philosopher's Stone in a series to come.

"How silly, expulsion…As if a junior instructor like me has that authority…" Marie fell to the snow, powerless as she kneeled beside the fallen figure of Stein. "On top of that, it's not like the threat of expulsion would stop them…"

"Al…" Mustang turned around to see Edward stirring. The golden eyes of the Fullmetal Alchemist opened to look at the Flame Alchemist standing beside Marie and Stein, powerless to go in.

"What should I do?" Marie sobbed, tears streaming. "What if those kids don't come back?" Her tears fell on neither the snow, nor her hand, but on Stein's hand.

"Don't cry, Marie." Stein stirred as a large burst of radiation spurted from the magnetic field. "The plan's failure, everything…I'm responsible for all of it…

"All of it…"

And the face of Shou Tucker appeared again, replacing Professor Stein's, as Edward was transported to that dark room in the late Tuckers' mansion. Marie, crouched on the ground, was replaced by the dog-human hybrid Nina.

Stein's maniacal laugh as he flipped over to lie on his back mirrored that of Tucker. "I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF IT!!!…_ALL OF IT!!!_"

Tears rolled down the other pair of golden eyes, as he saw the chimera Nina sit on the ground, observing her madman father laughing at his insane act.

"AAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!" He passed out, unable to move, viewing the horrifying scene created from the mixture of memory and insanity.

* * *

Of all the battles that Giriko fought, this one had to be the worst one yet. For one thing, there were two God-worshipping priests attacking him and he, a close-range attacker, couldn't get close. For another thing, the one with the scar on his face could break things into powder at such a close range and Justin Law wielded a guillotine blade on his forearm. For a third thing, one leg each couldn't handle a guillotine blade and a substance-destroying arm simultaneously, especially if both wielders were well conditioned for fights.

If he were to let up on either of them for even a split second, the other would come and kill him instantly.

_It must be the common bond in religion_, Giriko thought bitterly. _Maybe I should take up "worshipping" Arachne for this kind of power._

There was no way that kind of common bond with God could destroy a fighter like him. But, Scar had dissolved all the snow in the area to mere water. Everything else was bedrock, and the golems he could form from the pebbles wouldn't stand, broken down as mere wastes of energy. All that was left was to line the two up and take them out as one.

And now he had his chance. "Take this, you idiot priests! Wave of Genocide!" he roared.

At that moment, they split and got on opposite ends, again. Giriko jumped away from them as they attacked, hoping to force the two to crash into each other.

But that was a wasted hope, as Scar suddenly ducked low and Justin jumped over. The two headed for him with an angular attack this time and he tried this time to use two Waves of Genocide, one on each leg.

They simply got around to his other side. Scar placed his hand on the ground and sparks ran through the rock. The cliff, broken into a pile of rocks, slid down as Giriko jumped at the wall of a still-intact cliff side, sticking the miniature teeth of his chainsaw leg into the side. The chainsaw spun rapidly and he tried to make his escape.

"Law Abiding Silver Gun, Radiant," Justin Law said.

That attack hit the spot directly in front of him as he hung on to the sides of the cliff with his chainsaw leg. Sparks ran on the sides as well, and the cliff side became a rockslide. He grabbed hold of the edge, barely, only to see the two priests rush towards him. Their higher ground would only cause him to get killed.

So he jumped into the water, just as an Arachnophobia boat was about to pull off the island, and climbed onto the boat. Neither of the priests followed, nor did both follow. Following was too risky and too stupid, and as Justin Law shot out his guillotine blade, the guards were able to deflect it easily.

Scar jumped into the water and placed his hand on the ocean's water, decomposing a path of the water's surface to meet the boat's front. At that exact moment, he dove underwater and Justin shot out his guillotine blade, which was now deflected by Giriko's chainsaw foot.

Sparks from the resulting attack ignited a long path of fire, burning the boat and sinking all that was on it. Justin retracted his guillotine blade just in time before the explosion would burn the rope connecting the blade to his forearm. He then used it as an elevator to hoist Scar up and the two walked to meet the other Shibusen fighters.

But, unfortunately again, Giriko would escape the explosion and hop on another Arachnophobia boat to make his escape, unnoticed by either of them.

* * *

Eruka stood outside the field, waiting for the Mizune sisters to pull through. It had been nearly half an hour since and not even the Mizune could survive that.

At last, a burst from the magnetic field signified that someone came through. Eruka looked surprised. The Mizune couldn't have thought of transforming into their five-person form.

The person who pulled through was an old man in a ninja suit. But that didn't shock Eruka as much as what, or who, for this matter, was in his left hand. Five mice dangled by their tails from the fingers of his gauntleted fist.

"Mizune?" Eruka was stunned. The five mice answered in their mice language.

Another burst from the magnetic field. This one also wore a ninja suit, but he or she was shorter than the old man and wore a mask.

"The flow of life may be distorted inside, but if it is traced, it will always lead to where it originated." Fu explained. "I sense bad ki emanating from you and these five mice I have here in my hand."

"But how?" Eruka asked. "I have soul protect on and soul sensing shouldn't work around the magnetic field!"

"Xing's ruler can manipulate the dragon waves to move heaven and earth themselves," Ran Fan explained. "The royal family and their bodyguards can read the ebb and flow of ki as if it were a visible object, like a flowing river or an unwinding rope."

"Something like that which possesses a large amount of ki itself can cloud ki. It can alter its flow or drag the rope about in an unusual pattern, but we can always follow that path to find you!" Grandfather and granddaughter said simultaneously.

"How entertaining," Eruka remarked sarcastically. "But enough of this. Kaerog Froeru Gekoeru Frog."

Tadpole bombs aimed for the two, who dodged them expertly as they shot into the magnetic field and exploded inside the barrier. The two guards stood on either side of her awaiting her next move.

"So you've noticed. It looks like your power really is real." Eruka said again. "There's one other who supports us, and he's much stronger than I am."

Father emerged from the dirt, still in his loose robes. Both Fu and Ran Fan looked shocked for a moment, but soon after steeled their nerves.

This man, no, monster, could not be the Great Sage of the West who came to Xing and taught them Rentanjutsu. The differences were immediately visible. The amount of ki emanating from his body did not contain the variation. It was like that of suffering humans, resembling that of the homunculi. His eyes had not "the heart and soul" of their Sage. Nor was he one to talk.

"You," Ran Fan said immediately. "You're the impersonator. How dare you try to pass yourself off as the Great Sage of the West."

She threw a kunai at him immediately. A stone wall shot up and blocked it.

"So you even act like the real Sage." Fu said and attacked. He jumped back immediately upon noticing the sparks, barely dodging the stone spike that shot out of the ground. Another one shot out of that one and he shot back his hand.

That spike grazed his hand, forcing him to release the five mice. They crawled back quickly to Father.

"That is enough," Father said, as he raised a stone cylinder from the ground to envelope him and the witches. "We have what we came for."

The cylinder disappeared into the ground like an elevator. Fu and Ran Fan did not bother following and disappeared back into the field. This imposter had the powers of the Sage of the West, and to chase him was to die futilely.

* * *

"You can already sense the difference in power, can you?" A buffed-up Mosquito asked.

"Shut up! Give us the demon tool!" Death the Kid yelled.

"Do you all know what this 'Brew' I have in my hat is?" Mosquito asked again. "Heh heh…you don't, do you? You've fought well to this point, without knowing the brashness of youth. Brats who don't know the value of things…"

At this, Mosquito spread out his thick arms. "BY OBTAINING 'BREW', ARACHNOPHOBIA OBTAINS THE WHOLE WORLD!! IT'S ARACHNE-SAMA'S!! EVERYTHING IS!! IT'LL BE A TOP-CLASS WORLD!! GIVE UP!! DON'T STRUGGLE, SHIBUSEN!!"

"SHUT UP!! YOU MORON!! GEEZER-" Black Star roared, only to be promptly cut off by a black-clothed individual.

"You know, you've _almost_ got that part right, _almost_." The voice rang tauntingly as the black ponytail swung lazily about. "Except for the _Arachne-sama_ part, of course.

"Brat-" Mosquito was promptly cut off just as Black Star had been.

"IS YOUR 'ARACHNE-SAMA' ONE OF THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS?!" Greed asked, as his voice rang about the magnetic field and his mouth moved in the manner of a maniac. "NO SHE ISN'T! THAT'S RIGHT! GREED-SAMA IS! SO CHANGE THAT TO IT'S _GREED_-SAMA'S!

"And if your 'Arachne-sama' wants something," Greed finished as his equally maniacal grin shone. "Give her this from me. Say it's from Greed-sama."

And with that, his left hand rose and flipped off Mosquito. The image of the Ouroboros burned itself into the eyes of everyone present, minus Greed.

Black Star was livid, no, pissed, at "Greed-sama" hogging the spotlight from him. But his anger could not be compared to that of Mosquito, nothing could at the moment. "Greed-sama" had insulted Arachne-sama and this youngster was going to get the largest portion of his wrath out of all the youngsters present.

* * *

A/N: Whew, finally done with Ch 9. I've finally managed to finish this nagging piece at 2:25 AM. Sorry for the long wait and hope you like it.

Again, I have no idea how to end this Chapter. The end to this Arc is coming into view though, and hopefully the end to crappy writing and the beginning of something truly inspirational.

Edward's dream was something I thought of out of the top of my head. "Greed-sama's" speech just had to come. I got annoyed with having to look at Mosquito's and thought Greed's would be the perfect counter to that, considering how Black Star couldn't do that.

Again, please Rate & Review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater, Fullmetal Alchemist, or any part of it. The only things that belong to me are any part of this plot that do not coincide with the manga of Soul Eater.

Soul Eater (c) Ookubo Atsushi

Fullmetal Alchemist (c) Arakawa Hiromu.


	12. Chapter 10: Brew Tempest: Finale

**Chapter 10: Brew Tempest: Finale**

The Ouroboros on the back of Greed's hand glimmered for a second in the enraged eyes of Mosquito, who charged forward at the same time that Black Star aimed a jump kick at Greed's head for the unwanted interruption.

Greed reacted instinctively, covering both of his arms in carbon armor, moving the left to block Black Star's kick and the right to block Mosquito's forward ram.

Strangely enough, Black Star's kick missed and Mosquito rammed directly into the blue-haired katana wielder.

Behind both, Greed felt his body fade away.

"Greed, what are you doing?! Get out of here right now before your body fades out!" Kid yelled, before Mosquito's arm rammed him away.

"If you line up like that, it's easy to attack you from your blind spots," Mosquito said, tucking into a ball. "I'LL BLOW ALL OF YOU AWAY AT ONCE!"

He bowled the three over and flew upwards, spreading his arms wide, catching the airborne Shibusen students.

"AND TAKE OUT THAT ARMOR BOY AS A BONUS!!" He roared, slamming down to take out the unconscious Alphonse Elric lying against a pillar.

_Dang it, not you too_, Greed thought, reminded of the minions he lost. He moved forward, attempting to block Mosquito from destroying Alphonse.

"How does it feel?" Mosquito asked. "This is THE WEIGHT OF 100 YEARS!!"

Greed faded out and Mosquito passed right through, slamming downwards…

* * *

…into Alex Louis Armstrong's outspread arms, as the latter tried to prevent Arachne's butler from hitting Alphonse. The Shibusen students hit the ground with a thud.

Mosquito bounced off, noting the muscular mustached man's sudden appearance.

"Hmm, rather strong, aren't you? Barely in your prime, and yet you still support the weight of 100 years."

"Be-HOLD!" Armstrong roared, ripping off his shirt, again, and displaying his muscular physique. "THIS IS THE HIGH-DENSITY BODY THAT HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR _**GENERATIONS**_!!"

"Is that so?" Mosquito asked angrily. "THEN I'LL CRUSH THAT BODY OF YOURS' AND MAKE YOUR ANCESTORS REGRET PASSING IT DOWN TO AN **INTERVENER**!!"

The two muscle-bound men charged each other with a roar, only for Armstrong to be kicked back by Black Star, who blocked the incoming stinger with his sword.

"I'D HATE TO AGREE WITH THAT GEEZER BUT HE'S GOT A POINT!" Black Star roared, his anger vein popping out more prominently than ever.

"Take Alphonse out of here, quickly!" Maka shouted, as she moved in for the attack.

Armstrong saw the fire in their eyes and nodded, hoisting Alphonse's armor on his back and running out towards the outside of the field in an instant.

He broke through the winds and set Alphonse down next to Edward. Then he remembered, how he ran from the battlefield once, and how, just now, he ran from it again.

"Bear with it Armstrong," Mustang was there a second later as though he were reading the Strong Arm Alchemist's mind. "They may be kids, but like the ones who entered earlier, they know what they're doing. You did the right thing, bringing him out here."

* * *

_You could turn them into the greatest combat squad_, the little demon said within the mind of Soul Eater Evans.

_The black blood is in Maka_, Soul said, concerned. _Won't it infect the rest of the team this time?_

_Team soul resonance is an indirect connection_, the little demon informed him. _Unless they resonate terribly strongly with Maka, it won't infect them._

_Come, enter the black room, change the connection between each of you to one of "sound". The black blood inside you will empower you._

_I understand._ Soul gave in to the temptation, wondering whether his insanity will reach them.

_Who knows?_ He wondered at last, deciding to inform his teammates of his plan.

"Everyone, listen," Soul said, as he stood at the threshold of the door to the piano room in his mind, "We're going to do team soul resonance using sound as a medium."

"Using sound, is that even…can you do it, Soul?" Maka asked.

"Yeah," Soul replied, and proceeded to explain. "When you were retaking your duel arts training, I figured that maybe I could do it too, since I can sense everyone's wavelengths coming through you, Maka. It's thanks to you having the ability to sense souls."

"But how does the transmission of the soul wavelength work?" Tsubaki asked.

"I'll play the piano in my soul." Soul replied. "The sound will transmit directly into your souls."

Maka laughed.

"What is it? You think this is funny?" Soul asked, irritated.

"Well I mean," Maka said. "We were all trying to think of a strategy…some way to get Soul, who dislikes playing for people, to play the piano."

"Don't act so high and mighty, yo." Black Star said.

"We don't even have five minutes left inside the field," Kid said. "It's too bad we can't take our time listening to it."

"You're going to let us listen, Soul-kun?" Tsubaki asked.

"I'm looking forward to it." Liz said. Patty agreed.

And the demon welcomed Soul into the piano room. Within his mind, Soul's winter clothes changed to a black suit with thin white stripes.

"Uh, guys?" An outside voice interrupted as everyone noticed the black-haired individual with the Ouroboros on the back of his hand. His hair now covered his left eye. "Mind if I join?"

"I don't know if you're the prince or the demon but we could always use an extra number." Maka said hurriedly. Ling Yao, entirely in solid form, turned to face Mosquito's back.

_No need to worry, it's been tuned._ The little demon said within Soul's mind.

_Is that so?_ Soul asked, as he rested his hand on the keys.

The little demon's temptations to play hammered at Soul's mind, tempting him to play…tempting him to indulge…tempting him to have fun…

A crazed smile lit up Soul's features as he brought his fingers down on the piano.

All to which its effects were directed felt its effects in an instant.

"Everybody's wavelengths are being transmitted!" Black Star exclaimed as he closed his eyes with a smile.

"I would take you youngsters out first, but the first to go," Mosquito said, turning around to charge at Ling as his anger vein popped from beneath his hat, "IS YOU, THE DISRESPECTFUL YOUNGSTER WHO DARES TO FLIP OFF ARACHNE-SAMA, THE ONE AND ONLY MASTER OF THIS WORLD!!!"

_Alright it's your turn Greed_, Ling said.

_Going commando now, are we prince?_ Greed shot back, taking over the body of Ling Yao again.

Mosquito punched the armored arms, sending Greed skidding back a few meters, but still with his feet planted in the ground.

At once, the Shibusen technicians rushed at his back.

Mosquito pushed off Greed and aimed a punch at Maka with his left, who propped off of it with Soul.

_If I duck my head right now_, she thought.

She ducked, and Black Star rushed forward, slashing at Mosquito's face with Tsubaki.

"What?! Their movements are completely different than they were before…" Mosquito was baffled.

Kid shot at Mosquito's face in the same moment that Maka got behind and cut at his neck. Black Star followed with a slash to the back of his head. Greed rushed forward, grabbed one of his arms and threw him downward, allowing the Shibusen technicians to barrage the downed Mosquito's face.

Kid and Greed kicked upwards at Mosquito's back, while he shielded his arms forward to protect his face. Maka stabbed downward with Soul and Black Star whipped a shadow around his head with Tsubaki, strangling him while driving him downwards.

Barrage after barrage of attacks followed to wear away at Mosquito's defenses.

_To think that I…I! That I would be totally unable to counterattack_, Mosquito thought in frustration. _But attacks of this level, 100 years ago was the era when I was at my toughest!_

"Tsubaki! Soul resonance!" Black Star shouted. Shadows flared around the assassin as he shot them out to net Mosquito's back.

The net shot him toward Black Star while he rushed to cleave through his arms.

"Shadow Star! Endgame Cleave!"

Blood poured out of Mosquito's arms. Satisfied, Black Star had Tsubaki cancel Dark Sword mode.

Greed took this opportunity to shove his claws into the wounds.

"Even if this is your toughest era," Greed quipped. "A wall of flesh could never compare to the ultimate shield!"

He dragged his claws downward, skinning the immortal's forearms. He ripped the muscles apart, causing a scream to erupt. A kick to the face ripped off the hat containing Brew.

Mosquito cursed both Black Star and Greed and rushed towards the hat before something else caught his attention.

"Resonance ratio stable. Noise: 2.4%."

"Black needles, soul wavelength charging complete. Time 'till feedback: 5 seconds."

"It looks like your iron flesh has been cut," Death the Kid said as the countdown dropped to zero.

"DEATH CANNON!!"

The blast made contact, ripping off Mosquito's arms, leaving him with only his nose and two legs to keep his large upper body balanced.

"We've got the demon tool and defeated the guy, let's finish him." Kid said.

"This will be a piece of cake," Maka noted.

The little demon within Soul was laughing with glee at the thought of annihilating Mosquito.

"No," Soul was dismal. "It's over. Time's up."

Everyone noticed Soul's statement. Were even the Shibusen students, plus Greed, still at a disadvantage?

_Soul, you bastard, your accompaniment_, the little demon was angry.

"Why Soul?! We still have one minute!!" Maka was flustered. "This won't take long!!"

Mosquito, despite his helpless state, laughed, "Looks like there's one person here who's thinking straight."

"Did you forget?" Soul explained. "Before he transformed, that old man said, '400 years back? No, 100 should be plenty.' That probably means he can still transform further."

"It's also true that by making himself 100 years younger, he extended the amount of time he can spend in the field by ten minutes." Kid remembered.

"Did you finally realize? You had no chance of winning from the start." Mosquito said tauntingly. "I'll take back Brew. This is my form from 200 years ago!!"

"Greed, give us Brew!" Maka said. "We'll get out and you can hold him off!"

"Are you f***ing kidding me?" Greed asked, turning around to reveal his red, slit-pupil eyes and crazed grin. "Brew belongs to me. There's no way I'll hand this to anyone."

A large flash erupted from Mosquito's body as he transformed into a sleek, catlike form. Greed spun the hat in his left hand lazily as he watched.

Black Star angrily lunged for the hat, only to be interrupted as Mosquito's stinger pierced through the hat and retracted, returning the hat to its owner.

"Go," Greed said. "Brew belongs to me and the rest of you will just fall like leaves trying to get it."

The Shibusen students saw themselves fading into afterimages and rushed out quickly and grudgingly, as Greed lunged at Mosquito.

_You could learn a thing or two from that prince_, the little demon said within Soul. _Unlike you, he doesn't think twice about cooperating with his inner demon._

* * *

Mosquito's stinger hit Greed's forearm as the latter tried to grab it and throw him to the ground.

The stinger retracted, drawing Greed toward Mosquito as the latter pushed him downwards, slamming him into the ground as he raced away on all fours to the edge of the magnetic field.

Something felt off when Mosquito was running, however.

Greed clung for dear…Brew onto Mosquito's coattails as the latter ran around trying to brush him off.

He clawed his way up the butler's back, reaching for the hat.

Mosquito skidded to a halt, as Greed shot headlong into the hat, grabbing it as he landed on the ground and fixing it to his head.

_Greed, let's do this just like that time with Pride_, Ling said from within his head. _I'll sense his ki and you provide the armor._

_Sounds like a plan_, Greed replied.

Mosquito vanished just as a large explosion spread from the center of the island. Using the flash from the center as a cover, he struck at Greed's left with a punch.

But it was Ling in control of the body this time and he followed the winding trail of ki to where Mosquito was going to attack next, unmindful of the explosion and the spectacle of bright colors. He rushed in that direction with a carbon-covered fist. The resulting damage shattered Mosquito's arm, which was considerably more brittle than his 100 year form.

But no matter, as long as the stinger was intact, Mosquito could heal, though the break would cause some issues with speed at the moment…

_There's one other thing I hate about this guy's disrespect for Arachne-sama and that is HIS GREED!!_ Mosquito fumed at the thought.

_Yes, his greed, just like that suspicious magician assisting Arachne-sama right now…_

Mosquito now saw red and zipped back into the ruins. Ling moved about randomly, as he tried to ascertain the Mosquito's location.

Mosquito returned seconds later, limping rather quickly as he swung his broken arm like a mace towards the Xingnese prince. Ling hopped over it and twisted the arm behind Mosquito's back, while locking an armored arm around Mosquito's neck in a headlock.

"You seem rather experienced," Mosquito said, seething. "I attack you in this form from 200 years past, the time when I was at my fastest, and yet you seem to have no trouble. On top of that, I saw you fade into an afterimage before my eyes and here you are now in solid form. You did quite the job compared to those three kids back there. What are you anyway?"

"I'm a homunculus," Ling replied, "or at least, Greed is."

"Greed, huh?" Mosquito asked. "In that case, I will crush that Greed of yours and have him bow before ARACHNE-SAMA!!" His hind legs propelled him forward as he crashed forward, hitting Ling's head on the hard ground of the ruins. Greed simply formed armor on Ling's head. The hat sitting on it was crushed, however.

"That's impossible," Ling replied.

"How so?!" Mosquito asked in agitation, as he rammed his back into the remains of a nearby pillar in an effort to remove Ling from his back.

"If that could be done, I would've done that when he took over my body." Ling said, as carbon armor covered his back. "Greed can't bow to anything to save his life."

"THE WAY YOU JUST THROW OFF ARACHNE-SAMA DRIVES ME NUTS!!!" Mosquito roared. "THERE IS THAT MAGE BACK AT THE PALACE AND HERE IS YOU, ON THIS ISLAND!!

"YOU BETTER APPRECIATE THIS, GREED, BECAUSE THIS IS MY FORM FROM 400 YEARS AGO!!!"

Greed took over and covered the body in armor as Mosquito's soul wavelength burst out. The mere magnitude of it was enough to burn off some of the armor and throw back Ling Yao.

_It penetrated the ultimate shield!_ Greed exclaimed from within.

Mosquito became a black form and stood upright, a taller, younger man. Short hair was slicked back in the manner of a butler and a vampire.

"I've gone all the way back 400 years, try to last 1 second."

"Well ain't that arrogant-" Greed never got to finish that sentence, as the head of Ling Yao was severed from the rest of its body.

"Arrogant?" Mosquito asked. "This is coming from a guy who can't even last for half a second."

Mosquito walked over to the degenerating head, and stomped on it, only managing to crush the forehead before it was gone. But that didn't matter; the objective had been accomplished. He picked up the hat, straightened it, and took out the briefcase.

The briefcase was crushed. Pieces of metal were falling out. Mosquito appeared troubled for a moment before he scooped up the pieces of metal, deposited it and the damaged briefcase into his hat, and left the magnetic field without a word.

Ling Yao's body by now had regained its severed head. Greed, now in control, stood up and screamed.

"SO ALL THIS TIME I'VE BEEN GOING AFTER A PIECE OF _BROKEN GARBAGE_?!!"

Only three people heard him and two were Ling Yao's bodyguards, who traced Greed's ki back to the body of their prince. But the last wasn't Mosquito. This person looked at the enraged being and shook his head, his closed eyes behind glasses. He opened the golden eyes and sank into the earth, his tied-up golden hair a shred of gold in the ruins within the magnetic field, the one bright shred of a positive outcome that nobody saw.

* * *

Buccaneer and Miles had arrived at the edge of the magnetic field to stumble on Marie Mjolnir grabbing five Shibusen students by the edge of their necks in a wide bear hug.

"Would that be them?" Buccaneer asked Miles, confused as to whether the ones they were supposed to rescue were one woman strangling five teenagers and the five strangled teenagers, plus one un-strangled teenager holding a lantern.

"I suppose," Miles said, expressing the same confusion, albeit with more certainty. "Is everyone alright?"

"You're the two soldiers with Major General Armstrong," Marie noted.

"We came to bring you back to camp," Buccaneer said as he led the fifteen, including weapons, back to the boats.

* * *

As they were about to dock, Scar sat on the same boat as Justin Law, familiarizing himself with his new allies. But there was one person, one religious person in this group, and that was Justin Law. None of the other Shibusen caught his attention.

"Fellow worshipper, what is your name?" Justin asked.

"I have abandoned the name my god gave me." Scar replied dismally. "But the people I am familiar with call me Scar."

"Scar?" Justin asked.

"Yes," he replied. "That's all I have to live by. My people were destroyed on the orders of one trying to turn an entire nation into a Philosopher's Stone using alchemy."

"That must be very harsh," Justin replied. "I'm sorry to hear that."

There was a pause, and Scar spoke up.

"You didn't think my story was strange?"

"How could I, after witnessing your powers for myself?" Justin asked. "Plus, if you see there, there are some alchemists just like you-"

"Don't group me together with the likes of them," Scar interrupted. "I can only destroy."

"You know them?"

"Yeah, we've met more times than I can count."

Scar then cast his eyes at the other boats and found some familiar faces. There was the Fullmetal alchemist and his younger brother unconscious in one, though the armor was stirring. And then, in another boat, there were some faces he didn't want to see as much: those of Colonel Roy Mustang and Major Alex Louis Armstrong. In a third, there were some Briggs soldiers, one of whom was of an Ishvalan blood, his blood, his kin…

_Ishval_, Scar thought again, and looked back at Justin.

_Brother._

* * *

As the boats sailed from Lost Island, Maka traced Shinigami's number in the hand mirror that Sid gave her for the report.

"42-42-564," she traced onto the reflective surface. "Hello, hello, Shinigami-sama, this is technician Maka –"

She was promptly cut off by a large image of her father's face. Shinigami came on shortly after, leaving Spirit Albarn to gush on about his daughter's cuteness.

"Yo, sup, hey, hii~! Well doooone~. How did it go?" he asked in his usual cheer.

Maka explained the situation. "…however, we don't know if we have Brew yet or not. Right before the enemy brought himself more time, Greed–

"Wait a minute," she realized. "Where is Greed? Or Ling? Whichever one he is right now? He will die if he remains in there any longer!"

"In any case," Soul said, as he poked his face in front of the mirror. "We don't have Brew and Greed pretty much runs around without a leash. We can expect that once he gets it, he's not coming back, and that he'll be off the island by then."

"Is that so," Shinigami said, with a slight tinge of dismay in his voice. "You all worked hard…"

* * *

At Baba Yaga's castle, the situation for Arachne was ripe for celebration. King Bradley looked on emotionlessly as his son cuddled up comfortably in the spider witch's lap.

"This is wonderful, Mosquito. 'Brew' now belongs to me!" She said, face hidden behind her spider-web-patterned fan. "Hurry and show it to me."

"Yes, here," Mosquito bowed his head as he held out his battered, beige hat.

"What is it? Hurry up and take it out!" Arachne was impatient.

"Well…" Cold sweat ran down Mosquito's face as he tried to explain. "It seems that 800 years in that field was too long…although 'Brew' was Eibon's greatest masterpiece, it seems it couldn't withstand it."

"Explain clearly please," Arachne ordered.

"It was broken during a struggle with an impertinent brat who was adamant in his disrespect towards you," Mosquito said, as he turned the hat over. Jutted pieces of metal with inscriptions on them fell out. "This junk is all that is left of it now."

Arachne merely closed the fan and went back to stroking Selim Bradley's head.

"Well that is alright," she said. "That is only to be expected. Lift your head."

"But," Mosquito said hesitantly. "800 years of effort have come to nothing."

"It's true that I wanted 'Brew' for myself," she explained. "But Shibusen doesn't know that 'Brew' has been destroyed. It should be enough of a threat hanging over them, since they think that 'Brew' is still functional."

"That's true," Mosquito noted. "It's a first class bluff."

"Spider witch Arachne," Bradley interrupted. "May I speak to your butler for a moment?"

"Of course," she replied.

"Mosquito, was it?"

"Yes."

"What was this 'impertinent brat' like?"

"Black clothing, black armor, Ouroboros on the back of a hand," Mosquito provided the descriptions.

"Alright," Bradley said, evaluating the aftermath. "That 'first class bluff' that Mosquito speaks of may degrade to as far down as 'second class' or 'third class', or even 'fourth class'. This guy knows that the 'Brew' we have is broken because he broke it himself. Let me see the scraps of metal."

"I've finished him," Mosquito said. "I cut off his head myself."

"How many times?" Bradley asked, his jaded right eye sending daggers into the butler. Mosquito froze and grudgingly handed over the scraps of metal.

King Bradley picked up one piece after another, inspecting each and every one of them.

He passed over the marks of damage. _"Brew" was dashed into the ground._

Then he looked at the marks carved into the scraps.

But he wasn't trying to read them. He was examining the detail with which they have been carved.

"This is an uncertain fortune for us," he said. "Either the alchemists got to the real 'Brew' before us or we have a major ally. Not only is the scrap we've got here just a pile of iron, some alchemist out there found the real Brew and replaced it with this replica."

"So what action do we take next, King Bradley?" Arachne asked.

"Keep with the bluff," he replied. "If it fails, it fails and nothing changes. If it succeeds, then we've got a very good card in our hands."

* * *

At an unknown location on Earth, the Mizune sisters and Eruka Frog gathered before the Medusa. Father sat behind her on a stone throne, observing the witches and their actions.

"Good work," the snake witch said smiling. "Where is it?"

"Here," Eruka said, holding out the metallic box with its inscriptions. "The real 'Brew' is here."

"Arachne, you fool," Medusa said, gloating. "The huge explosion hid 'Brew' well. But Eruka and the rest of our spies uncovered the fact that "Brew" still exists."

"The spiders guarding the inside of the field weren't released," Eruka said. "It's a good thing we took care of that in advance.

"But for Eibon-sama to actually create a fake, broken 'Brew' and take the real one personally was rather bold."

"That's because there were a few factors that inhibited the Mizune," Father said coldly. "I found the five mice being chased by two armored guards from the east.

"Your magic may have brought me here, but it may have accidentally brought others here as well. I know this because I also saw two potential sacrifices, as well as the two sacrifices that I have originally selected."

"In any case," Medusa said. "Is there a way Arachne will discover that it is a fake?"

"The possibility is highly unlikely," Father replied. "If she had any alchemists, she would've sent them to counter Shibusen's. Their foot soldiers were getting wiped out."

"The snake-" Medusa was cut off.

"Even the snake that you planted in that madman of a professor wouldn't be able do anything about the situation if it were not for me. My 'Brew' would've ended up with Shibusen if I did not intervene and stop the two Eastern guards from interfering with the Mizune and Eruka."

"There were those who could sense you even in the magnetic field?" Medusa asked Eruka.

"Unfortunately so," Eruka replied. "They said something about a place called 'Xing' and 'ki'…"

"If that is the case, then the battle for 'Brew' is not over yet." Father said. "I have received information about these people and they would be able to trace us here. From now on, we will have to switch locations more often."

"So you're saying that this demon tool was more trouble than it was worth?" Medusa asked, irked.

"No, I am saying that the 'bringer of storms' would repel the weak and attract the strong, suiting its name," Father explained. "But no matter how powerful 'Brew' is, it was only a step towards the final product: the Philosopher's Stone."

* * *

A/N: Finally, the Brew tempest arc was done, after almost _3 months of schoolwork and test prep_! It's a miracle that I was able to finish this part at least. Hope you liked it!

Some explanations, in case they weren't so clear:

Greed's armor burned off when Mosquito reverted back 400 years mainly due to the energy. While the ultimate shield could block basic physical attacks, attacks utilizing energy such as Ed's alchemy would mess up the carbon bonds composing the ultimate shield.

Greed is a homunculus, which, in the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom, is composed of many souls. Generally, one soul is used up per life-threatening injury. This explains why he faded out and faded back in again.

The button with the green text at the bottom of the page is there for a reason, so please rate and review!


	13. Chapter 11: Internal Affairs

**Chapter 11: Internal Affairs**

At the gates of Shibusen, a man in shorts and sandals shot a few punches.

"Where are you," he asked.

"You mole?"

He stood in front of the skull with the spikes jutting out of its three holes and sighed. "Shibusen, Marie's here too…

"I guess it's already over between us, though I had hoped otherwise," he said to himself. "I guess when it comes to love I end up wanting to dive into a hole." He walked in and promptly stopped.

Before him was a (short) kid with his long blond hair braided into a short rope, whose golden eyes looked at him in some amazement, probably at the dress and hairstyle. A tall man in the suit of armor with glowing red eyes followed him.

"Excuse me, do you need something?" the blond kid asked.

_Why does he have Marie's hair and eyes?_ Buttataki Joe was speechless as he stared downward (no, not upward) at the figure. He wore black clothes and a red jacket, plus platform shoes to make him look taller. _And his voice…_

"N-no, nothing," he replied. "I just need to speak to Shinigami-sama."

_She couldn't possibly have a relative…not to mention a child of that age while I was gone…and I'm sure that the suit of armor wasn't a weapon…_

* * *

In a Shibusen girl's washroom, Azusa was gloom.

"They're starting an internal investigation in the afternoon," she said. "In a manner of speaking, Shibusen itself was damaged too."

"Eh? Internal investigation?" Marie was confused.

"Your ex-boyfriend, Buttataki-san, is already here," the fellow Death Scythe replied, resulting in a not-so-well-controlled response as she suddenly turned up the faucet, spraying Azusa with water.

* * *

In the nearby boy's washroom, Roy Mustang was gloom, but not at the same degree as Azusa was. Here, he was _furious_.

"Of all the times when I needed to take a dump, why COULDN'T I DO IT NOW?!!!" He roared. Of course, he knew the answer to that question. The four stalls with the sit-down toilets were all occupied! He had been here standing in front of all four stalls, barely holding in his excrement for over _thirty minutes_!

He tried each and every one of the stalls again. None of them opened.

"Maybe I should just go use the nearby girl's restroom…" he said aloud, and exited the door, only to see a disapproving Azusa Yumi look at Marie Mjolnir put on makeup. The latter was yelling about making her former boyfriend regret dumping her. "Never mind…"

If ever there was a god to grace the face of this earth, he was a cruel, cruel _man_…

* * *

A coffeepot poured coffee into a cup.

"Thanks for coming, BJ," Spirit Albarn said as he handed the cup to the muscular man, "That power of yours to sense subtle soul vibrations. We're counting on it, though I'm not too happy to see the face of the internal affairs investigator."

"I'm sure," BJ replied, calm outwardly, though inside, he was twitching at the Death Scythe's voice, as though it somehow seemed to _match_, "Even though I was originally a technician fighting alongside all of you."

"I know I've prepared good coffee and everything, but I think it would be best if we started the inquiry immediately."

"Ah, before that, there's something I'd like to ask."

"What is it?"

"The spy that infiltrated this place," Now he was serious. "Is it safe to say that it's Arachnophobia's doing? Is there a chance it's the influence of a third party?"

"Shinigami-sama and I both think that the spy is linked to Arachnophobia." Spirit replied.

"I took a look at some of the records before I came. Is it conceivable to say that the spy is connected with the group aligned with that witch, Medusa, who enabled the Kishin's revival on the eve of Shibusen's anniversary?"

"No, that group's been-" Spirit was cut off as BJ put his fist against the Death Scythe's chest.

"Go ahead," BJ gave the affirmative to keep talking.

Spirit hesitated for a moment before he began speaking. "Stein and I finished her with our own hands. We made sure of it to the point of annihilating her. Medusa's group is essentially just that, a one man team made up of the witch, Medusa. Having lost its leader, there's nobody to guide it.

"However, some time after that, there was the sudden appearance of alchemists and military officers, all of whom sided with us. I'd hate to consider them possibilities, but it can't be helped."

BJ's eye opened wider, staring at the subject of his interrogation.

"I…think a third party is a weak connection," Spirit concluded.

BJ dropped his fist and Spirit gave a sigh of relief.

"Understood, I'll investigate the Arachnophobia lead and the alchemists who've appeared to side with us." He sipped the coffee and grimaced at the horrifying taste.

"Senpai, the coffee's pretty good," he said.

"Come on now," Spirit said, unimpressed. "Anyone from Shibusen would be able to see through a lie like that."

He opened the door. "Begin the internal investigation. We're counting on that 'lie detecting' ability of yours."

* * *

"Name?" BJ asked, holding up a clipboard.

"Knife technician Sid Barrett, Shibusen faculty," replied the zombie. "My partner is Mira Nygus. My primary mission types are 'assassination' and 'infiltration and search.'"

BJ took notes for a moment before asking. "Are you a spy?"

"No!!" Sid answered firmly.

"Let's say someone important to you was taken hostage," BJ continued. "And the enemy coerced you into becoming a spy. What would you do?"

"I'd probably pretend to agree to it," Sid replied.

"There's certainly nobody at Shibusen as well suited to be a spy as you are," BJ added.

"But I have no reason to allow myself to be used by an enemy," Sid reasoned. "Even if I were acting as a spy, typically, there'd be a chance to rescue this 'important person'. There's also usually some way to exploit the enemy's weakness."

"Excellent, that's quite the textbook answer," BJ noted.

Sid nodded. "Ah…ah…I'm a solid guy. That's the sort of man I was…"

* * *

"I am a solid guy. But if I can't get through this, that'll be the sort of man I _was_. Endurance, Roy Mustang, _endurance_."

He was now contemplating on blasting the doors wide open, shoving out whoever was in there, and sitting down to do his business himself. It took the endurance of a real man to hold his digestive wastes in for over forty-five minutes.

He had already donned the glove of his right hand, as mad as he was when he had learned that Envy was Hughes's killer. He was holding his fingers and was choosing which door to blast open.

"Whoever's in door number three, the door second closest to the door, come out when I count to three or I'll blast that door off its hinges…" He ordered as he sat in front of the said door. "One…"

No response stimulated a "two…"

No further response stimulated a "three…"

And Mustang snapped his fingers and blasted the door outwards, unintentionally hitting himself in the head with a piece of the door and exposing Jean Havoc, sitting on the seat and sleeping. Havoc promptly woke up sitting on the toilet and staring at the face of his enraged colonel, who promptly threw him off the seat of the toilet, pulled down his pants, and sat down on the toilet to unclog his innards.

"Explain, Lieutenant Jean Havoc," Mustang growled as he stared into the soldier's face, "Why were you in there sleeping and where were you when the search for 'Brew' was initiated?"

"Colonel," Havoc replied warily, knowing that a wrong response would send him skyrocketing into the air a burnt mass with metal and porcelain shrapnel. "I was at my shop sending you supplies when the shop started to spin and I blanked out. Then you woke me up with your flames and I somehow ended up in a restroom without my wheelchair."

"Oh, right, you're no longer in the military since you can't use your legs, I apologize," Mustang remembered.

The stall to his left opened up and a large man with a round belly walked out, rubbing his head, and turned to Mustang, who was done taking his dump.

"Hey Colonel," Heymans Breda said. "It's been a while, though I wonder if you really had to blast that door off."

"I've been waiting for forty-five minutes in front of all of these stalls waiting for someone to come out!" Mustang yelled, still fresh from the memory. "How did they get locked?!"

The two other stalls opened and Kain Fuery and Vato Falman walked out rubbing their heads and looked at Mustang.

"Havoc aside," Mustang said, "How did you get here?"

"Well I was holding the radio station," Breda said, "But then the microphone started emitting this weird sound that only I could hear. I closed my eyes, blanked out, and ended up here."

"Same here," Fuery added.

"It was similar for me, but it was cannon and gun fire," Falman said.

"Why is it that we blank out to end up here?" Mustang asked, juxtaposing their situations and his.

"So it happened to you too, Colonel?" Falman asked.

Mustang nodded. "I'm worried about what happened in that rebellion at Central though."

The four froze at that comment, and turned when three sets of footsteps headed to the men's restroom.

* * *

The three others walked in on the scene. One, a tall red-haired man in a suit who wore a cross-shaped necktie, another a blue-skinned zombie with a beanie on his head, and the third, a man wearing shorts and sandals with a detailed insignia on the right side of his head.

All three were startled by the men in military uniforms and Havoc, who couldn't get up. The other five were equally startled by the three unusually-dressed men.

"I heard an explosion here and couldn't help but wonder what had happened," BJ said.

"Well now you know," Mustang said. "I was waiting to use the restroom so I had to blast the door open and, luckily for me, I found my subordinates again."

"No wonder it smells so awful. You are new here?" BJ asked.

"Yeah," Mustang replied.

"Alright, I hope you don't mind, but I'll be interrogating you where you are now, starting with you, the man sitting on the floor."

"Sorry, I can't help it," Havoc replied, rather embarrassed that he was the only one who couldn't stand.

"It's alright," BJ squatted down. "Name?"

"Store owner of Havoc Sundries, Jean Havoc, formerly 2nd Lieutenant of Mustang's squad," Havoc began.

The inquiry moved on as proceeded. When Havoc was done, BJ stood up and moved to Breda, putting his fist to the latter's chest and interrogating him as well. The same followed for Fuery and Falman.

And then, BJ walked over to Mustang.

"Name?"

"Colonel Roy Mustang of Eastern Headquarters," he replied. "I was also the Flame Alchemist. Specialties: mass destruction, tactical espionage, information transmission, et cetera."

BJ put his fist to Mustang's chest. A flash of a camera snapped at that moment through a hole in the cubicle in the side.

Mustang was about to snap his fingers when BJ stopped him abruptly. Sid and Spirit walked over to the neighboring cubicle and opened the door.

"Please, bear with it Mr. Mustang." Mustang calmed down, gave a huff, and continued on with the investigation before wiping, flushing the toilet, and pulling his pants up.

"So nothing was there?" He asked.

"Nope, nothing," Sid replied.

Falman and Breda helped Havoc up while Fuery walked out of the restroom to take note of the electronic systems of Shibusen. They waited until the three Shibusen faculty members were out of earshot before speaking.

"He's quite the nice guy," Fuery said.

"Yeah, completely different from the rat race we have back in Amestris," Breda agreed.

"You guys go on to the mess hall," Mustang said as he followed the Shibusen faculty members to the interrogation room. "I'm going to check something up."

* * *

Interrogation continued with Mira Nygus, who reported that she neither harbored suspicion towards Sid nor thought that he was a spy.

Mustang arrived just as Azusa Yumi walked in.

"Mind if I sit in?" he asked Spirit.

"You'd have to ask BJ. He's the guy in the shorts in there."

"Alright, BJ, was it?"

"Yes, Mr. Mustang?"

"Mind if I sit in on the interrogation?"

"Feel free, though I'd ask you not to disclose any of this interrogation to the outside."

Azusa reported cooperation with Justin Law to locate the Kishin and the unusual insane outburst of Franken Stein.

"Also, as Marie Mjolnir has been with him," she said. "It seems unusual that he would fall into a fit of insanity so easily."

Something clicked in BJ's head as he heard those words, and he heated up at the thought of his ex. Roy Mustang's eyes glinted.

"Wh…what is it?" Azusa asked, shocked at the sight of the usually reserved Buttataki Joe slipping in his composure.

"No, nothing," he replied, composure regained. "Then I'd like to proceed with the final question."

Azusa looked on.

"Did Marie say anything about me?" he asked, blushing slightly.

"Please ask her yourself," was her straightforward reply.

_I know how you feel_, Spirit Albarn closed his eyes solemnly, recalling his divorce.

"Alright, next person," BJ called, as Spirit beckoned the person in.

Buttataki Joe was at a complete loss of what to say to the person who walked in.

* * *

Golden hair hung in sharp, clearly-defined bangs about his face as the rope braid remained unmoved from the back of his head, quite unlike Marie's smooth wavy hair, though same in color. Two golden eyes sharp as the hair, roughened by years of burden known to him, looked back at the eyes of his inquisitor, also quite unlike Marie's gentle eye.

Despite the differences, the golden eyes and golden hair were the first qualities that stood out to Buttataki Joe.

Edward Elric sat on the chair, awaiting his questions.

"Name?"

"Edward Elric," the youth replied.

BJ's thought process arrived at Spirit Albarn. _The voices! They're so similar! So does that make this guy…never mind, just proceed with the inquiry as usual._

The questions proceeded, with BJ making the occasional inquiry to Edward's alchemy abilities and potential efficiency to spy on Shibusen.

And then…

"What is your relationship with Marie Mjolnir?" BJ asked, putting his fist on Edward's chest.

"None that I know of," Edward replied, though there was some uncertainty and hostility in his voice as he spoke it.

"Alright, one more question," BJ was hoping not to provoke the topic. "You were the one taking the photograph in the restroom, weren't you?"

"N…no," Edward lied.

"Who do you think you're trying to fool here?" BJ asked, smiling at Edward's failed attempt to lie. "I'm internal affairs. Were you doing it for Arachnophobia?"

"Okay, I admit that I took the photograph!" Edward was sweating, as he glared at Mustang's triumphant smirk. "But it wasn't for Arachnophobia or anything! And I don't have it! It's with one of the other students!"

"Alright, you can go." BJ had fun toying with Edward Elric, despite the possible relationship he might have with Marie.

"Nygus is calling you to the ward," Spirit reminded him as he gave Edward the directions.

_There's always the chance that he could be a nephew, though the voice_, BJ thought, and came back to his thoughts on the voice of Edward Elric, which reminded him of… "Senpai, I don't why, but that kid's voice reminds me of you sometimes."

"How so?" Spirit asked.

"I don't know, but some part of it sounds like you…" BJ pondered.

"I don't know," Spirit pondered how it was possible that the short alchemist only in his mid-teens could resemble him in voice, which was a rather disturbing thought, considering the similarity of Edward's and Maka's ages…

"Anyway, next," BJ decided to put off the matter, concerned with moving the investigation forward.

* * *

It was the tall knight in the suit of armor in the loincloth. BJ doubted that he could take the thing head on, much less fit in the armor himself. He wondered who it was that was in there. _That was definitely a human soul, though_, he thought. _But not a trace of it contained weapon characteristics._

"We've met at the entrance," the knight said.

"Right," BJ nodded, taking note of the knight's curiously childish voice. "Name?"

"Alphonse Elric," Alphonse replied. "I'm Edward's younger brother. You saw him too, the one with the golden hair and eyes?"

"Younger brother?" BJ was surprised.

"Yeah, most people think it was the other way around."

"If it doesn't trouble you, could you please take the armor off?"

"Uh, it's a personal habit." Alphonse replied. "I don't feel well if I take it off."

"Alright," BJ put his fist to the suit of armor, and banged it sharply on the chest plate. A hollow sound resonated.

"Like I thought, there's nobody in there," BJ said, as his eyes opened. "You're empty inside."

"Right," Alphonse bowed his head in shame. "Due to an accident, my brother had to bind my soul to this armor so that I wouldn't die."

"I see," BJ decided not to probe the matter further and proceeded with the general questions.

Alphonse left the room after the questions were finished and another was called in. This other, however, had BJ gaping at her appearance.

* * *

Marie Mjolnir walked into the interrogation room with a short, black dress and high heeled shoes. Buttataki Joe could not help but stare in wonder at her rather formal, not to mention revealing, manner of dress.

She sat down, cleavage well exposed, leaving BJ blushing in amazement and Spirit and Mustang muffling their laughter.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"N…no…do you always teach class looking like that?" BJ asked, still blushing.

"It must be tough on the students. After all, there are lots of young men." Spirit and Mustang were just barely containing themselves.

"Well, let's begin," BJ started. "Your name?"

"Death scythes former Oceania chief Marie Mjolnir," Marie replied, smiling with a huff, "I am currently a teacher at Shibusen. My partner is Franken Stein. I'm **very happy** to be surrounded by students."

She looked questioningly at Spirit, who crossed his arms in an X and tried to hint her to do the opposite and say she was feeling lonely. Mustang studied the interrogation with a glint in his eyes. Here was a woman's husband interrogating the woman, like some of those dramas he used to watch when he took girls out on nights with him.

And it followed like one of those dramas, though with some different elements in the storyline. BJ asked for the events in the 'Struggle for Brew' leading up to Stein's incapacitation by insanity and Marie replied accordingly, adding details involving Edward's visions and Alphonse's incapacitation. Such were the plays generally featured in a military state.

"Marie, you and Stein used soul resonance?"

"Yeah, it was at that moment, Stein collapsed. Edward was hallucinating and Alphonse collapsed altogether."

Now here was the twist. BJ contemplated how Marie's calming wavelength could have the opposite effect on Stein.

A thought ran through his head and he stared directly into Marie's chest. She attempted to cover it up out of sensitivity.

Mustang continued to watch. The drama was getting to its best part.

BJ put a hand on Marie's hands as he balled the other into a fist and placed it at her chest, attempting to sense her wavelength.

Something felt out of place, as though there were black branches tied around her soul.

"Can you feel it Marie? There's something in the middle of your chest!"

"What?!" She felt somewhat offended by the comment.

"What'd you say?!" Spirit was concerned now. "What is it?! Is she okay?!"

"Where?" Marie asked.

"Exactly in the center of your chest." He pointed. "Could you burn it to death using 'internal generation'?"

"I'll try," she replied.

A spark concentrated at the center of Marie's chest. It increased in voltage and she gagged on something.

Both men of the Shibusen staff rushed to help her while Mustang watched. She gave a moan and spit out a black object.

"You did well Marie. You worked really hard. Papa's proud." Spirit comforted his fellow Death scythe.

"This is your child." He gestured toward the black mass that Marie spit out. Marie was silent with killing intent as Mustang laughed silently at the comment.

"Stein stopped being able to move when he performed soul resonance with Marie." Spirit said. "Additionally, Edward was having visions and Alphonse became inert. Is this the catalyst behind the insane fit?"

"Yeah," BJ held the black mass with tweezers. "This little dark thing is cooked beyond well done. I can't tell what it is."

"He said our child is a little dark thing!" Spirit exclaimed in a lighthearted manner.

"Enough with that joke, it really makes me sick," Marie smoothed her hair, peeved.

"But why was something like that in my body?" she asked. "The only thing I've put in my mouth is food from inside Death City-"

Marie's voice was starting to grow faint as she teetered on her heels. BJ took notice immediately and hurriedly placed the black mass in a plastic bag. Marie gave a gasp for air and collapsed, right into her ex's arms. She opened her eyes and gazed into his face.

Mustang winked at BJ as he stepped outside the doors. No sooner had he gone five steps than he felt the hand of the investigator hard on his shoulders.

"Mr. Mustang, please explain that action just now. This is a serious investigation and you're trying to make a romantic notion out of it. What are you planning?"

"Nothing," Mustang replied nonchalantly. "Just doing you a favor and getting you back together with your girl."

"We broke up," he replied bluntly.

"Then get back together with her," Mustang said. "Only one guy for internal affairs and you did a pretty good job with your time too. Trust me you'll be thanking me for this later."

BJ remained solemn as he let go of Mustang's shoulders.

"Was it oxygen suffocation?" BJ asked.

"Mustang turned around with a grin. "Good one. It's a common trick I use to take girls out on dates back in Amestris."

"Girls? So you womanize? When your country is in danger?" BJ was confused.

"Who said I was womanizing just for fun?" Mustang's grin widened. "I said my specialties were tactical espionage and information transmission, didn't I?"

BJ was left amazed as he let Mustang continue on his way.

"You're internal affairs right?" A female voice brought BJ back to his senses.

"Yeah, though we're rather delayed at the moment," BJ turned around to meet the sharp gaze of Olivia Armstrong, and the large, muscular frame of her brother.

"Well hurry up and make it quick, I don't have time to waste," her voice was as sharp as her gaze. BJ walked back into the room and carried Marie out, bridal style towards the infirmary, only to be stopped short of the Major General's sword.

"Excuse me, but what are you doing?" He asked hesitantly.

"If you're internal affairs, you wouldn't exactly be carrying that woman elsewhere, would you?" She asked, threatening him with the sword.

"Well, it was Mustang's suggestion that I carry her to the infirmary, as she's unconscious."

"Stow that crap, I don't give sh*t what Mustang says. This may be passing up relief on my part but internal affairs doesn't take squat from anybody. So get in that room and make it quick before I dispose of you as a potential spy."

What a harsh woman, both Buttataki Joe and Major Armstrong thought as the former walked back into the room and the Major General followed, laying Marie down on the floor to rest.

* * *

"So what did she give you?" Edward asked Buccaneer as the latter exited the Shibusen infirmary with his "Bear" automail.

"Nothing," the muscular captain replied roughly, "Just a few bandages for cuts here and there which were healed quickly. No frostbite or anything, convinced her enough of my life at Briggs.

"I've got to go down to interrogation for now, so see you later, Fullmetal Alchemist."

Edward walked into the infirmary, where he underwent some scans and x-rays.

"According to Marie and Stein, you were defying orders for some reason, to the point when you punched Stein…" Nygus said.

"I guess I was. I wasn't very clear in the head that time," Edward said.

"For now, I'd suggest you to steer clear of Stein, who is prone to insane outbursts. And take some of this, it helps." She gave him a slip of paper.

"Thanks," Edward said and walked out the door, letting Alphonse go in. He opened the slip of paper and his eyes flared up with anger immediately, hands crumpling it and tossing it aside as he walked down the hall in a bad mood.

"Tossing his prescription to the side like that…" Kid remarked, rather disturbed at the sight. "If he should do it, he should toss it over his head or something to make it symmetrical."

"Anyway, what does this say?" Liz picked up the crumpled piece of paper and opened it. She covered her mouth, stifling giggles as Patty took a look. Patty burst out in laughter at once.

And Alphonse, walking out the door to the infirmary as there was no way to examine him other than by soul, sighed in exasperation as he read the slip of paper. Kid took a look at it from behind Alphonse.

"Milk."

* * *

A/N: Well, finally it's here. Chapter 11. Winter Break really gives a lot of free time for an author to write!

BJ's confusion with the Elrics would have to happen, as it did with Marie.

The vocal similarities between Spirit Albarn and Edward Elric ties with the fact that both of their English dubbers were Vic Mignogna.

I apologize for the limited interaction of the other Soul Eater & Fullmetal Alchemist characters.

Once again, just to disafirm another disclaimer: Soul Eater beliongs to Ookubo Atsushi and Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Arakawa Hiromu.


	14. Chapter 12: Return of the Witch

A/N: Yes, the title below is a reference to the last (chronological) episode of Star Wars. But it's just the title.

**

* * *

Chapter 12: Return of the Witch**

Back in that same desert hideout at Nevada, Zolf J. Kimblee wore a black cloak with a scarlet pentacle embroidered elaborately on the back, over the white suit that he wore. Metal gauntlets adorned his hands while a crown of leaves sat on his head.

But it wasn't a laurel like the ones from ancient Xerxes; it was a crown of elder leaves from an elder tree, pinned together in a fashion that made him look like he had spiked green hair growing out of his head.

_Spiked green hair…_ Kimblee was going mad, which was normal, considering he lived in an insane world where a being known as the "Kishin" exerted its influence. That spiked green hair made him look like a palm tree. The gauntlets made him look like some kind of knight. Add those two decorations to the black cloak and he was essentially a palm tree knight on which the witches hexed. He yearned to make that outfit explode.

Heck, by now, he was willing to make _anything _explode. But using that Philosopher's stone in his throat right now would be rather haphazard at the moment, and he hadn't found any of the homunculi yet for backup and further actions.

"Joma joma dabarasa!" the witches chanted as they gathered before him, with that dwarfish crone Mabaa taking the lead again. Kimblee was on the verge of exploding himself, just for the sake of relief.

"Joma joma dabarasa," He repeated back to them, half uncertain of what he said. He had barely any mastery of the language of the eastern countries anyway, or at least, this is what it sounded like.

This sound was literally Hell to his ears. Something had to explode…

* * *

…and explode something did, eventually.

"You're telling me not to use the Dark Blade anymore?" Black Star was aghast at the prescription he got, "Why not? I don't understand."

"There's no particular lasting effect from the island's magnetic field," Nygus explained.

"Yeah, so why can't I use Dark Blade Mode anymore?" Black Star was not satisfied with the explanation. "I need the power of the Dark Blade. I don't understand."

"I just showed you the X-ray, didn't I?" Nygus asked. "Because you were forcing control over the Dark Blade, your soul's become worn out. Normally you'd die before it got this bad."

"I won't die. I'm beyond a god. I ain't "normal"!!" Black Star objected to the very notion of death.

"Stop saying such stupid things, you'll die," Nygus chided. "You're human."

Black Star could not have been angrier at the utterance of those words. "You sure are an annoying woman."

"I've told Tsubaki about this," Nygus said. "She's promised me that she won't transform into the Dark Blade."

"I'm using the Dark Blade," Black Star wore a stubborn grin. "If I stopped, that would really be 'death'."

He slammed the door when he walked out.

"That kid," Nygus was concerned at the personality he witnessed. "He intends to walk the path of a demon."

This was not yet the explosion. The real one Kimblee had wish for was yet to come.

* * *

"I've got a god's body," Death the Kid explained. "I don't see why they need to inspect me. Though what I really don't get is how Greed managed to stay in that field after fading out…"

_God's body, huh…_ Black Star gritted his teeth. The mention of Greed made him angrier.

"Is something wrong?" Kid asked.

"Hey Kid, watch this," Black Star opened a window and jumped out. "Greed's got nothing on this. HYA HAA!"

He punched straight into the left spike jutting out of the corresponding eye at the entrance gate.

Kid screamed in horror as he saw not just a small point of the spike get broken off, but more than half the spike crash in front of one of the doorways.

"YOU BASTARD!! HOW DARE YOU DESTROY SHIBUSEN'S SYMMETRY!! FOOL!! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!!" Kid shrieked in hysterics through the window.

Black Star remained unfazed, however, as he planted his feet on the ground.

"Get down here Kid," he said, staring up at the shinigami, "Let's have a duel."

While things were heating up within Shibusen…

* * *

…outside, things were going smoothly, for a moment, as Maka, Soul, Alphonse, Winry, Blair, and Chrona enjoyed each others' company.

Clearly, one person who should not be here was added to this set, another who should be here was missing from this set, and soon it will be known why.

"What sort of movie are you going to watch, Edward?" Maka asked.

"Movie?" Edward was confused.

"Motion pictures," Soul simplified. "Rather than normal pictures that you draw, take photos with, whatever, motion pictures, or movies, allow these to move."

"I know what it is," Edward said. "I've seen a couple. They just didn't go by those names where I came from."

"Well then, which one?" Blair asked, as she sat on Maka's head.

"Why are you all asking me?" Ed stopped abruptly and turned around to face the others.

"Hey, maggot, leave us out of this!" Ragnarok shouted at him from Chrona's back.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SOMEONE SO SMALL THAT HE WOULD ONLY BE CRUMBS FOR MAGGOTS WHEN THEY COME TO EAT HIM?!!!" Edward roared, held back by Alphonse.

"That's not what he said, Edward," Chrona said quietly.

"Well I wasn't going to, but thanks for the hint," Ragnarok sneered.

"Anyway, we asked you because we wanted to know where you're taking Kim," Maka said, smiling at the fuming Edward.

"Wait, Kim? Who's Kim?" Edward asked.

"She's the girl with the pink hair with the lantern," Al said. "You remember, right? She's the one you sent to prank Mustang."

"Yeah, I remember, but she's just a random girl whom I asked when she mentioned someone looking like him," Edward replied.

"Well, in any case, you probably didn't hear it when you gave her the picture, but she asked you out," Blair said, mewing.

"What?!" Edward was shocked.

"Oh, aren't you lucky, Edward," Alphonse teased, "Whatever happened with Winry?"

"Shut up, Al. Winry has nothing to do with this, all the more fortunate that she doesn't appear." Edward muttered, blushing.

"All the more fortunate that who doesn't appear?" an enraged, feminine voice boomed with threat dripping from every word.

Edward (and Alphonse) promptly froze upon hearing this voice. He knew exactly who it was and did not for her to be here now, in the midst of an insane battle against insanity itself.

Edward slowly turned around to meet a sharp bang from a wrench directly into his face. Everyone else stood back, afraid as the blond-haired girl mounted Edward and delivered blow after blow from her wrench to the sides of his head.

"EDWARD ELRIC!!! IF I HEAR ONE MORE MENTION OF YOU GOING OFF INTO ANOTHER WORLD TO FOOL AROUND WITH GIRLS, **GOD HELP ME**, THE NEXT THING I BASH THIS THICK DEMENTED SKULL OF YOURS WITH IS YOUR _**AUTOMAIL**_!!!!"

Both Chrona and, surprisingly, Ragnarok, shrunk from this demonstration of violence that pulverized Edward Elric's head. Chrona felt fortunate for the sufferings inflicted upon her as a child.

"This…is Winry?" Maka asked, horrified.

"…just when she's mad at brother…" Al replied, tamely, unwilling to interfere.

"How violent," Blair added, eyes wide open.

Winry stood up and calmed down. "Oh, and I'm Winry. Nice to meet you," she smiled, offering them her hand.

Maka hesitantly took it, half afraid that the hand would come back broken. "I'm…Maka…"

"Soul," Soul followed, rather glad _he_ wasn't being banged around by that wrench.

"Chrona," Chrona said, distantly.

"You didn't do anything to her, Edward?" Winry threatened him again.

"No he didn't! I swear!" Al vouched for his brother as he piggybacked him, a trail of blood seeping down the back plate of his armor.

And that's how Edward was unable to enjoy some time off as the rest of his body, followed by his bloody mass of a head, lay limp against Alphonse's armor as they walked down the street.

"So you were driving a car when it suddenly accelerated, crashed into another car, and exploded?" Maka asked.

"Yeah," Winry replied. "Or at least, we were escorted by some Briggs soldiers. One of them said he lost control of the wheel or something."

"You seem to know this place rather well," Soul said.

"That's because when I got here," Winry replied. "I ended up in a shop for automobiles. A guy named Justin goes there often to get his cars fixed. The shopkeeper was really nice and showed me the maps."

They headed to the theater, where movie posters lined up on the walls displayed brilliant scenes underneath flashy headings.

"These look rather detailed," Alphonse was surprised at just how graphically the gunshot wounds were portrayed in a poster for a war movie.

"It's fake, of course," Soul explained.

"Well don't ruin it for him!" Blair chided. "It'll kill the effect."

"He can't see it anyways, he needs to be 18," Maka added.

"And he can pass for 18 pretty well too with that armor of his," Soul said, nonchalantly.

"Hey! Doesn't this look like…?" Alphonse stopped in front of a poster.

"What?" Winry was equally surprised.

On the poster was Scar, sunglasses and all, against a dark steel wall, holding out his arm with the symbols for the circle of degeneration written all over it.

The title was TERMINATOR X: ELIMINATION. The caption read, THEY'VE SENT ANOTHER ONE. AND HE'S AFTER A NEW TARGET.

"Who is this?" Soul asked, rather unnerved at the sight of a being with an X on his face.

"It's Scar," Al and Winry said simultaneously.

"He's the guy who came on the boat with Justin," Maka remembered.

"So why is he posing for a movie?" Al asked.

"Probably unintentional," Maka said. "Some guy documenting Brew saw him and had him do it. He probably didn't even see it coming."

"Nya," Blair admired the picture for all of its terror.

"Coming soon," Soul read. "Well I certainly hope so."

"Hey, Chrona, what are you looking at?" Al asked.

"I think this would be perfect for Ed." Chrona said.

"What is this?" Al asked, interested.

"Move aside, Al. If anyone has a right to say what's perfect for Ed, it's me," Winry asserted and looked at the poster. She promptly stopped and eyed it narrowly. "Twilight?"

"Oh, _that_," Soul looked irritated, "Little girls run around everywhere holding onto it like the Bible or something."

"It's really annoying when they do," Maka was not amused.

"Bu-tan saw it before," Blair commented. "It was rather cute."

Al turned to look at another poster and promptly burst out laughing.

"What is it, Al?" Winry asked. She took one look, and keeled over, shrieking with laughter.

Soul looked at it and followed suit.

"What is so funny?" Maka asked and she looked at the poster, undergoing the same effect as the other three. Blair fell off her head, hissed, looked at the poster, and rolled on the pavement laughing.

Chrona took a look at it and merely smiled. Ragnarok burst out of her back to view the commotion and gagged on his own laughter, banging his fists against Chrona's head.

It was a poster of a shrieking Havoc bear-hugged by a sparkling, shirtless Armstrong. Havoc appeared to be in great pain.

_Starlight_, the poster read, _the unbelievably lovely tale of the Armstrongs passed down for generations._

* * *

Scar walked out the entrance halls of Shibusen, ignoring the glances people gave at him along the way.

People were whispering about him, several meters out of reach in case he would attack them. Some mentioned the X on his head. Others mentioned his red eyes and white hair, noting that he could be related to Soul. All of them talked about his role in the movie, and Scar became the number-one-most-talked-about person in Shibusen.

He was now an unwilling celebrity, and right as he was about to leave the entrance, a large red stone spike blocked one of the entrance arches. What's more to it was that two children, about the same age as Edward Elric, were fighting in the entrance. Scar quickly rushed past them, down the stairs, and into the city, grateful to Ishvala that he wasn't interrupted along the way.

He slowed to a walk, passing Deathbucks coffee as he did, where people stared at him from outside the coffee shop. Scar ignored them as he did with the students at Shibusen, turning his attention to look at the passerby who weren't looking at him to divert his attention from the people who saw the movie poster.

One group caught his attention, the group which included the Elric brothers, the Rockbell girl, and a cat.

"See ya, Chrona," Soul, Maka, and Blair bid goodbye to the sword technician.

"Y…yeah, bye bye," she replied timidly and walked off.

"Well, I've got to be going back to the shop, so see you later!" Winry waved to the others as she ran back to the shop.

"Wait, you're not coming to Shibusen?" Alphonse asked.

"I might drop by some time to visit you too, but I've got customers coming at the store at this time." Winry replied and was off in the distance as well.

"We'll go with you," Al said.

"Ah, you don't need to."

Scar was troubled as he looked at Winry run off into the distance, in the same direction as the sword technician. He decided to follow and walked, keeping track of Winry through the corner of his eye. Something was wrong with her that he couldn't possibly quite fathom.

_Why would she refuse to put herself under the care and watch of Shinigami, during a time when there was a war like this, and opt for a shop instead, where she would be much more vulnerable to attacks? And she refused the Elrics…_

A set of steps followed Winry's, the steps of one of the teenagers from before. The girl with the pigtails was running towards Shibusen.

And then she stopped at an alley for a moment before hiding herself around the wall. Scar seemed alarmed and turned his gaze slightly towards that direction. The sword technician from earlier was talking to a…frog?

Scar narrowed his eyes and walked by calmly, remembering his encounter with the witches. Some of them flew up into the air for an attack while some took the coward's way out, turning into animals and running away. The frog here was standing in an awkward manner, and there could be no doubt that this was a witch in disguise.

He headed towards Shibusen with a hurried look on his face.

* * *

_No way_, Maka thought. _Chrona is…_

She turned away briskly, and strode away, darkened by this vision she had witnessed.

Turning away, she unintentionally bumped shoulders with Winry.

"I'm sorry!" Both quickly apologized.

"Winry, what are you doing here?" Maka asked.

"The shop ran out of some parts, so I need to go to the blacksmith to get some more." Winry replied.

"Ah, sorry about that," Maka apologized again.

"No need," Winry said, smiling, "I was in a rush, so I should be sorry."

"Yeah, see ya."

"See ya."

As soon as Maka was away from her, Winry smiled with a blank look in her eyes.

* * *

The witches' assembly was going well. Everything was evenly paced. New targets and plans for the next action were being laid out. Every witch in the assembly had faith in the Great Wizard Kimblee. Good thoughts ran around every witch, especially Mabaa, who had much to gain from the destruction about to unfold.

Kimblee himself, however, only thought one thing as he struggled to keep his eyes from bulging.

_If I don't hear an explosion soon, I'm going to go insane…_

The elder leaf hat itched on his head, worsening the sensation.

* * *

Fortunately for Zolf J. Kimblee, unfortunately for Shibusen, he wasn't alone.

"If I can't stand not smoking," Dr. Franken Stein said, with an eerie grin on a sweat-filled face, "I certainly won't be able to stand the insanity."

A pack of cigarettes on Stein's bed rested there, worsening what was yet to come.

* * *

Inside the Shibusen Intelligence Control Room, Buttataki Joe sat at his desk, unnerved again as his Soul Perception acted up again. _Just like that time, when I interrogated Scar, it acted in response to his right arm…_

Marie walked over, banging on the shelf in the side.

"Good work today," she complimented him, holding out a cup of coffee. "Here, have some coffee. You drink coffee right?"

BJ made a sick face at the mug.

"Don't worry, it's from the beans I blended and brought myself," Marie said. "The regular coffee here is terrible, after all. I'll guarantee the flavor, okay?

"Although there might be some poison in here," she joked.

BJ laughed lightly and drank the coffee, "As long as it's poison you put in."

She looked at his appearance as he stood up.

"Same as ever, huh, always shorts and sandals," she said, prompting an embarrassing reaction.

"Do you remember?" she asked, smiling, "I was dressed lightly, like I am now, and it was cold outside. Just to be a brat, I said, 'You don't have a jacket to give to your woman?'"

She recalled how he ripped off his shirt with his muscular arms and draped it over her shoulders.

"Wait, I was desperate…" BJ struggled to find an answer to that. "Nowadays, I'd never…"

"Desperate, huh," Marie asked suspiciously.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that," he calmed down. "Even now, my Soul Perception is growing. Though I'm the first technician to be able to break through a witch's Soul Protect, I can only do this unpleasant sort of work, where I have to be suspicious of my own allies."

"That's," Marie started.

"I was afraid back then, if my ability kept getting stronger, that eventually, I'd be able to see right through you, the woman I loved. That's why I kept my distance.

"But I regret it now, I'm not afraid anymore.

"I know you're free, so…would you have dinner with me after work tonight? I already made reservations at the restaurant…" He thought about how to ask her out.

"The French place in the 3rd district? 'Deathstraunt?'" she asked.

"Yeah, that's the place. You know it, huh."

"Okay, I like the soufflé there," she answered. "Then, I'll see you tonight."

"Ah, wait Marie," BJ added.

"Huh?"

"I sensed it while I was questioning him," he said grimly, "Be careful, Stein, as he is now, is veering off the right path."

She looked back at him grimly as he followed up on the explanation.

"Since you're close to him, you're in the most danger. So please, keep an eye on Stein."

"Yeah," she replied, "I promise."

"And, another thing?"

"Yes?"

"What is your relationship to Edward Elric? He had the same eyes as you."

"I don't know, maybe a distant cousin or something. But he seemed pretty mad at me. Have I really done anything to incur his hatred?"

As Marie left, BJ reflected on Mustang's parting words.

_Trust me, you'll be thanking me for this later._

* * *

Time ticked closer to the explosion anticipated by Kimblee as Black Star and Death the Kid stood in front of Shibusen's entrance.

Liz called Sid and Nygus about Black Star as the latter two watched.

"The witnesses are here," he proclaimed proudly.

"You bastard, why would you break one of the horns sticking out of Shibusen that gave it such symmetrical balance," he asked. "Shishin Taijutsu: Stance of Sin. I'm so eager; I can't wait, to kick your ass even one second sooner. Say you'll fix it."

Black Star, however, merely grinned, with his hands in his pockets.

"Here I come," Kid rushed forward and kicked straight at Black Star's head. Black Star leaned back and fell down, curling his legs and swinging them at Kid's arms as he blocked. He did a get up, hands still in his pockets.

"How long are you going to keep your hands in your pockets?" Kid asked. "Do you plan to win against me without using your hands?"

"Maybe so," he answered, and shot forward, slamming one of his fists into Kid's arms. Kid noted the weight of the punch and Sid noted its speed as Black Star's fist connected with Kid's abdomen, passing in before Kid could guard. Black Star attempted to release his soul wavelength immediately and shot it out.

However, he only shot Kid out. No soul wavelength followed. He stared at his fist in confusion.

"Black Star," Kid said. "We fought like this in front of the main gate when we first met, too. Compared to then, your power and fighting ability have both risen remarkably.

"However, you…have become weaker."

Black Star reacted in disbelief.

"An inferiority complex," Sid explained as he observed from above. "It's hindering the release of his soul wavelength."

"Eh? That's why?" Liz asked.

"It's interesting, isn't it?" he remarked. "A soul wavelength can change in an instant.

"I've known Black Star since he was a child." He added as he watched the two continue in hand-to-hand combat. "He has talent, a strong soul, and works hard. Whether it's upperclassmen or huge crowds, he cuts a path through everything and everyone. His life had been one long string of victories.

"But recently, he's suffered one defeat after another. Losing the battle for 'Brew' after being outnumbered probably hurt him especially badly. And I can't say this for certain, but the addition of being shown up by Greed, whom Maka reported to have survived in the field since the start of Brew, dealt another great blow.

"Among people with weak souls, there are those who would run away. But that idiot can only move forward."

* * *

"THEN KILL ME!!" Black Star roared. "YOU'RE A SHINIGAMI, AREN'T YOU?!"

Kid rushed forward and Black Star awaited death.

An elbow to the back of his neck caused Black Star to pass out slightly. But his legs stood firm.

Kid hammered down with both fists at that same spot. Black Star descended to a squat.

Kid raised his right leg and brought it straight down, slamming a large impression into the ground and downing Black Star.

Black Star's arm moved and Kid stomped down, knocking him out.

"Why'd you do that, Black Star?" Kid asked, sadly. "You're greater than a god, aren't you?"

* * *

Somewhere in Nevada, Zolf J. Kimblee heard what sounded like a small explosion or a series of small explosions, refreshing his mind for just a moment.

But then again, he could just be hallucinating from the meeting, and the explosion was a figment of his imagination.

He would've liked to get closer to see it happen.

Too bad the explosion wasn't close enough.

* * *

In Patchwork Laboratory at night, Stein smoked a cigarette as he wallowed in his insanity.

He took a look at the news.

"Parents find lost Child…nope not good enough…

"Hmm…how about this one…?"

* * *

As BJ walked through Death City, he received much unneeded interference. He closed his eyes and focused on the source again as other soul wavelengths acted up again. His confession to Marie lifted the obstruction to his Soul Perception.

And then, in one dark boom, it crashed upon him.

"What?! It's impossible…how…in Death City…

"Witch signals…one…two…three…four…five…six…seven. What the hell?!

"How?! Why didn't anyone notice?!!" he understood at once that it was his Soul Perception breaking through the witches' Soul Protect.

_More importantly, this amount of insanity…_ he thought, and immediately picked up signals.

One came from a blond teenage girl with some grease on her face as she worked.

BJ was shocked as he detected more.

The demon sword technician, Chrona…Black Star, as he worked out…a little demon within Soul Eater Evans…Dr. Stein, as Kishin's wavelength swirled around him greatly…thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of souls, human souls, screaming for themselves to be killed, screaming for anybody, anyone, as they became immersed in insanity, bunched up in a group…and the Kishin, Kishin Asura…

He bent over in shock as he grabbed onto a pole for support. "This world…this insanity…it's too dark to comprehend…"

Something beckoned him from a dark alleyway.

_Something's…close…_ he perceived, cocking his revolver.

_This wavelength of insanity…it's calling me…_

_It's retreating…it's gone…_

He stepped past a cigarette box he overlooked and found a figure waiting for him.

"Who…? What are you?" he asked as he aimed for the figure in apprehension.

The sound of a stab was not heard by anyone but the figure of a teenage girl, who grinned in a snakelike manner upon witnessing the attack.

* * *

Edition: 2

A/N: Sorry if there's too much copying and pasting going on in here. I hope the originality of some scenes makes up for it.

And you might not be so glad with this, but parts of this story will have to meet editions in case of grammatical or situational procedures that don't exactly add up. Blame my obsession with posting the first draft on the site when I get the chance. T_T

Break from school again means more stories, though I wish that the stuff churning out of my head right now could keep coming onto the paper and not off into the recesses of my head.

Scar is a celebrity now! Isn't anybody happy? XD

Winry...now why Winry...Q.Q

I find it much easier not to hate Twilight. Rather, I feel irritated that there are people who are obsessed with it. That's why Starlight was created. The story is in my account, and is being delayed at the moment.

And now for some citations: _Fullmetal Alchemist_ belongs to Arakawa Hiromu, _Soul Eater_ belongs to Ookubo Atsushi, the _Terminator _series belongs to James Cameron, _Star Wars_ saga belongs to George Lucas, and the _Twilight _series belongs to Stephanie Meyer.

I hope I don't make things a little too obvious. In any case, please rate and review!


	15. Chapter 13: UVW

**Chapter 13: UVW**

Two hands knocked on the door of Patchwork Laboratory. One was the hand of destiny, the hand that would chase Dr. Stein away from Shibusen and direct him on a U-turn straight back after a prolonged period of time.

The other was the hand of Death Scythe, otherwise known as Spirit Albarn.

"What is it?" Stein asked as he opened the door.

The two faces at the door surprised him. "Senpai…Sid…"

"BJ has been killed," Spirit said as he took a sheet of paper out of his coat. "Stein, you're under arrest."

* * *

"BJ has…" Stein could not fathom just what Spirit had said.

"I'll do you a favor," Sid said sternly, "I don't want to handcuff you. Why don't you just come with us?"

And Stein came along with his two former colleagues, with Spirit at the front and Sid at the back.

"Wait a minute, something's not right," he started, after they had walked a few meters.

Spirit turned an unforgiving eye on his former technician.

"After being questioned by BJ," he claimed, "I returned home and haven't taken a single step outside. Why do you think it's me?"

"At the scene of the crime, there was a pack of cigarettes only you smoke dropped on the ground," Sid explained.

"On top of that, you stink of cigarettes right now." Spirit added. "You were smoking, right?"

Stein gave a small laugh.

"What's so funny at a time like this?" Spirit asked.

"So that's what it is," Stein looked insane. "Stop kidding around. You're all trying to scare me, huh. Surprise~! You surprised me, but you won't trick me so easily."

"Do you really think this is a joke?" Spirit remained harsh.

"Then how could it be me?!" Stein yelled, held back by Sid. "I was in the research lab!! Give me a break!! Are you fools?! Give me a break!

"Sid, let go of me. Yeah, why don't we make a deal? If you let me go here, I'll find the real killer."

_His thoughts and emotions are changing moment to moment and he can't get them in order._ Spirit thought. _Stein isn't being upfront about things. Is it safe to believe him?_

_Of course…_

"Ah, ah, maybe I did do it. I'm not myself," Stein put his face to his hands. Sid urged him to keep walking.

"It's a joke after all, right?" Stein asked again. "Don't make me laugh."

They stopped at the graveyard, the very same place where Maka, Soul, Black Star, and Tsubaki undertook their extracurricular test against Sid, and later, Stein himself.

Stein recognized this place, but did not expect that he'd be brought here. "Aren't you taking me to Shinigami-sama?"

Two figures showed up. One of them was Sid's partner Mira Nygus. The other…

"Marie," Stein saw her. The corner of her eye was reddened by the tears she shed.

Ten more showed up after the two: Mustang and Hawkeye, flanked by Breda, Fuery, and Falman. Havoc followed them in a wheelchair, while the two Armstrongs led Buccaneer and Miles.

"The Amestresian soldiers," Stein wondered what could've happened that allowed this many to come here. Were they bringing this much just to kill him? Or was it…

"Is it true that BJ was killed?" Stein asked.

Spirit confirmed it. "It seems that his chest was ripped apart with something, probably an edged weapon. His heart was cut clean in half and he died instantly. His soul was gone, too.

"We may be in a graveyard, but with these soldiers here, we're not here to mourn.

"Stein," Spirit continued, "Those of us who are here don't think you're the culprit. Killing a comrade is a serious crime. All that awaits you back at Shibusen is the death penalty. It's shameful, but we can't prove your innocence.

"There's no question that BJ was swallowed up by some large insanity. There's nobody who can catch the real criminal besides you, Stein.

"Find the object of BJ's revenge. We all believe in you."

Marie started forward as she walked towards Stein.

"Marie," Nygus said, "Are you really going to go with Stein? I understand your desire to avenge BJ's death, but even if you follow him, you won't find happiness, Marie. Stein has no love in him. He's always alone."

"That's why I'm going," she asserted. "Stein's always in solitude, but if we really left him alone, he'd collapse. I promised Joe, that I'd keep an eye on this man. Let's go, Stein."

Marie and Stein walked out of the graveyard and disappeared into the horizon.

"We failed to take Stein into custody. He took Marie and escaped." Spirit said as soon as the two were gone. "That's what we'll report to Shinigami-sama."

"Are you sure you don't want to say that I lost control and killed him?" Mustang asked.

"That would make your stay here a lot worse, and your mastery of alchemy is too acute for Marie to disappear as well." Spirit replied.

"But of all the people I thought would be here," Havoc put a fist to his chin.

"Where are the Elrics?" Mustang and Alex Armstrong finished the question.

"I went to search for them," Nygus said. "But they've run off, saying that they'll prove Stein innocent for sure."

* * *

As they walked, Marie stopped and shuddered under a tree. Stein saw within her face, the sadness that still lodged in her heart, and the tears that still shone in her eyes.

He put a hand to her head, and she cried her tears into his chest, the soft droplets of that melancholy news touching his heart as well, and igniting a flame within him that he had forgotten.

* * *

"Alright!" a cheerful Black Star shouted as he walked out of Shibusen with a bag in hand, "Let's go somewhere, anywhere! I'll come with you."

"Black Star," Tsubaki called.

"Hm?" he was curious.

"It might be a different sort of journey than you're thinking of."

* * *

Definitely the Elrics would be thinking that line, as soon as they ran through the streets of Shibusen, intending to find the true culprit.

"Al," Ed said as he stopped at the crime scene again, viewing the chalk line and the blood splatter with distaste.

"Yes?" Al looked around as well, finding another chalk outline of the cigarette box used to prove Stein the culprit.

"We know for sure that Stein couldn't have done this, right?" Ed looked further into the dark alley.

"Yeah, but if we don't find the real culprit, Stein's guilty." Al said.

"That's why I'm looking into this place again, to see just what would do this."

"Wait, what?" Al was confused.

"Yes, _what_," Ed said. "If you haven't noticed, not even I, with my alchemy, could do something like cut his heart that deeply. Falman even told me the cut was too clean."

"Ed! Look out!" Al shouted.

Edward looked upwards to be met by a Mizune attempting to cut him with six laser beams shooting from the whiskers on her face. He ducked and it shot past him out into the open, at which it promptly transformed into its mouse form and scurried outward from Shibusen. The Elrics gave chase.

Edward clapped his hands and quickly trapped the mouse in a miniature stone dome.

"This is what a witch could do?" Al asked.

"Correct, though that barely touches the tip of the tail," confirmed a voice behind them that the brothers only knew too well.

Both turned around to find the person they least expected, and the one they least wanted to see.

* * *

Winry stood there in front of Edward and Alphonse Elric, smiling for the two to see. Neither Elric hoped that this was really Winry that said this, and if it wasn't, then this wasn't the one they hoped it wasn't.

This was not the Winry they have known since their childhood. This was her body without a doubt, but her long, blond hair was draped in front of her shoulders and twirled into a twisting braid that lay on her chest. The fringe right over her forehead was no longer swept to one side, but fell evenly downward. She appeared more sinister than usual, and was dressed in a black dress. She walked barefoot, and this completed the image of just who the Elrics had in mind, since the time they walked to Shibusen with Chrona.

"Chrona's mother," Ed said.

"Well done, Elrics," Winry's lips moved, but the same voice as the one from the little girl they first met came out. "You chose well to come along with Chrona."

"What have you done with Winry?!" Ed shouted. "Wasn't the first girl you used enough?!"

"This girl was more useful," Medusa replied with her usual snakelike grin. "We needed her to persuade you to come with us."

"Let her go!" Edward demanded.

"No, Ed!" Al warned.

"Your brother's got some sense," Medusa said, "Or do you not care what happens if you refuse?"

"What?!" Ed was apprehensive.

"When I, no, when _Winry_ beat your head with that wrench while under my control, did you merely think that it was just a simple beating?" Medusa's grin got wider.

The Elrics froze in place at once.

"Good boys and it's about time you caught up with Chrona, Eruka."

"I'm sorry," the frog said as she hopped towards the three. Chrona followed, with a guilty look on her face.

"Chrona," Edward recognized the quiet teen that led him back to Shibusen on the first day he arrived.

"I didn't want to leave Shibusen," was all Chrona could say.

"We didn't want to either," Al replied.

"Did you kill BJ and frame Stein?" Edward asked Medusa apprehensively.

"Oh, no, I merely stood back and watched," she said nonchalantly. "But here's a hint, just to make you more comfortable for the long ride. The killer is someone you might know."

Medusa broke open the stone dome with a Vector Arrow as she said this and the Mizune clambered out, gasping for breath. Another Mizune in mouse form followed to join it.

"Alright, time to fly." She activated Vector Plate, sending the Elrics and Chrona shooting off as she followed them from behind and the two Mizune followed from above in their witch forms.

"I planted snakes in that head of yours' that attached to your soul, so if you want to live, you do what I tell you now."

"Like we have a choice," Ed muttered under his breath as he shot forward unwillingly from vector to vector.

"I'm glad you understand," Medusa grinned again.

* * *

Chrona and the Elrics suddenly shot straight into the sand in the middle of the desert region.

"We are here," Medusa said.

"Huh?" Al asked.

"Al," Ed looked down as a part of the desert about the size of a typical door moved aside to reveal a flight of stairs leading underground.

"Gentlemen, follow Chrona," Medusa ordered.

Ed grimaced as he and Al followed Chrona down the stairs. Medusa and the two Mizune sisters followed them and the doorway closed above them immediately, trapping them inside the candlelit hallways.

"Chrona, to room five," Medusa pointed.

"Yes," she replied dismally.

The five walked down the hallways, passing numerous other doors. The Mizune entered one of the doors, leaving only the Elrics and Medusa.

At the end of the hallway was a large, circular chamber, not unlike the one underneath Central that the Elrics were familiar with.

"Welcome, Elric brothers," a familiar, cold voice hit them hard immediately.

"You," Edward was apprehensive as he beheld the likeness of Hoenheim staring coldly down at him. Only that this was not his father, but _the_ Father, the being who planned to transmute Amestris into one giant philosopher's stone.

He walked down the steps towards the two and looked them over, muttering to himself.

"Hmm…the younger Elric is fine…but the elder Elric…"

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Ed asked angrily as Father patted him down, as though searching for a weapon of some sort.

"The heart," Father shot his hand directly into Edward's heart. He searched around for a bit before pulling out several small snakes. Edward clutched his chest in confusion.

"To think that you would even threaten one of my sacrifices with death," Father turned upon Medusa with cold eyes.

"But, Eibon," Medusa protested.

"When I said I wanted them here alive, I meant exactly that, do you understand? Useful people like them are unique and incredibly difficult to find." Father was not forgiving as he said those words.

Medusa was about to protest, but submitted quietly with a "Yes, Eibon."

"Eibon?" Edward was confused. "You're Eibon?"

"Yes," Father turned from them to meet the Elrics. "My name is Eibon. Now if you are to protest, Elrics, I could always take this girl's head off. She is of no use to me other than to persuade you to come here."

Father stopped as a loud boom resonated from a nearby room. Sharp crashes went abound as both Medusa and the Elrics turned their heads to look.

The door slammed open and the body of one of the Mizune sisters squirmed as it fell down into the hallway. A small figure exited the door and darted straight towards the four down the hallway, followed by various tadpole bombs and explosions.

A Mizune made of three of the sisters shot after the small figure. The braids, Eastern robes, and small panda she had with her told her identity immediately.

"Mei?" Al asked, shocked at the young girl's appearance.

"Alphonse-sama, you're alright!" she exclaimed upon seeing that he wasn't harmed.

"Who is this girl?" Medusa asked angrily.

"I can tell from your _ki_," Mei Chan said, glaring at Winry's body. "You're not Winry. You're using her body."

"Are you the panda witch from the east?" the three-Mizune combination asked.

"Panda witch?! How rude!" Mei was angered. "I am the 17th princess of the Chan clan, Mei Chan, and a practitioner of Xing's Rentanjutsu!"

"How quaint, that makes you a human then," the three-Mizune smirked and crossed her hands across her face, "Beam Hige."

Laser beams shot out of the fingertips of the three-Mizune as it rushed in to cleave Mei. Ed, Al, Medusa, and Father all got out of the way before Mei jumped overhead, throwing five knives straight into the ground, where the three Mizune stood. All five knives missed.

"You need to perfect your aim before you do something this dangerous, little girl," the three-Mizune mocked.

"I already have!" Mei shouted, as she threw the five Kunai into the ground before her feet, placed her hands on it, and activated a transmutation.

A pentacle inscribed within a circle sparked between the knives as a large stone fist shot out of the same inscription caused by the pentacle between the five knives at the three-Mizune's feet. The three-Mizune was too late to react as the fist shot out of the spot and pinned it to the ceiling, where it remained helpless.

"Causing such a disturbance like this here, and a useless maggot like that…" Father seemed irritated as he turned upon her with his blank emotions.

"Oh, so you were looking for a rather useful maggot now, were you," the same voice resounded with some hint of humor in it.

"You," Father recognized the intruding being as he walked in through the hallway.

"Yes, it's me, my little friend in the flask," answered the equally golden-haired and golden-eyed man.

"Eibon?" Medusa was shocked as she looked back and forth between the two golden-haired men. "Which of you is Eibon?"

"Neither," answered Hoenheim calmly.

"_I_ am Eibon," Father lied coldly, "And even if I wasn't, don't forget that I let you have 'Brew', Medusa Gorgon."

"Please," Hoenheim answered in disbelief, "Even if you were Eibon, you wouldn't have let anybody have such a battle-changing advantage."

"Battle-changing advantage? Don't take my claims lightly, Van Hoenheim," Father replied. "That 'Brew' was merely the prototype for the true creation that both of us are: the Philosopher's Stone. I have achieved that true creation hundreds of years ago, and simply took 'Brew' to appease the witches."

"So you simply used us when we summoned you, Eibon," Medusa said, "Or should I say, fake Eibon? You put up quite the show and if you were born here, I would've believed you were Eibon a little longer."

"So he took up the name Eibon…" Edward said.

"…in order to control the witches?" Al finished.

"Correct," Hoenheim answered, "Just like how one claims to be a god to control people."

Another loud crash sounded overhead, as the stone slab covering the entrance broke, bit by bit.

* * *

"So this is where Father is?" Wrath asked, as he placed his hands on two of the four rapiers he held.

"Correct," Pride answered, as the shadows ripped apart the stone slab and exposed the entrance. A loud crash resonated through the hall. King Bradley and his "son" stepped through the entrance and down the flight of stairs.

"What's the ruckus? I was trying to get some sleep here!" An unshaven, muscular being exited one of the doorways in the halls. His left eye shone a transmutation circle of some sort. Above that eye were the words NO FUTURE. Other than that, his face appeared awfully familiar, especially to Bradley, as he looked back at that incident with the Devil's Nest…

Bradley stepped down through the entrance and met this creature, who was still wearing prison clothes and had a ball chained to his ankle. Yet he still moved fine, as though he didn't have that ball.

"Intruders?" Free noticed the two at the entrance.

"How old are you?" King Bradley asked with a sense of nostalgia as he did so.

"What?" Free was confused as to why an intruder would ask a question completely irrelevant to his goal.

"I'm turning 61 this year," Bradley still smiled as he unsheathed one of his swords. "This body doesn't move as well as one ages."

"So a grandpa and his grandchild come here? Well sorry, but I can't let you go after you've seen this place. Wolf wolves wolf-"

Bradley stabbed the sword straight into his throat, stopping his speech short.

"You go find Father, Pride. I'll take care of the guy here." Bradley told Selim.

"Alright, you just do that," Selim Bradley ran forward.

Free swiped a hand at Selim, only for Bradley to unsheathe another sword and chop that arm off. Bradley quickly took his first sword out of Free's throat as Selim passed.

"You seem rather prepared for this," Free noted, as his arm reattached itself. "You know of my ability to regenerate. Do your research or something?"

"I fought your kind before. You're nothing new." Bradley said calmly.

"Oh, is that so? Then how about THIS?!" Free roared as his teeth became spiked. Hair grew all over his body as a large, furry tail sprung from out of his pants. His face turned to the likeness of a wolf as his nails sharpened.

"Is that it?" Bradley was unimpressed.

Free howled and jumped back. "Wolf wolves wolf wolves.

"Ice spindle!"

A spike of ice sprung from the ground and headed diagonally towards Bradley's chest. Bradley merely rushed forward and sliced the spike off, closing the distance between him and Free.

"Ice pillar!"

Several pillars of ice shot up to impede Bradley's movement. Bradley expertly dodged all of them while continuing to close the distance, reminded again of that one former state alchemist he stopped in the alleys of Central…

Free rushed away at that moment and turned the corner to the Mizunes' room. Bradley followed and rushed into the room, to be met with the werewolf charging up energy in his mouth. An eye opened up in front of his jaws.

"Demon Eye Cannon!"

Bradley barely dodged out of the way as the cannon fired at him. The blast barely scratched the left side of his temple.

His eye patch fell to the floor as Free looked at him, cursing that he missed.

"So you have a magic left eye? I have one too." Bradley opened his left eye. "Except that mine is the Ultimate Eye."

"So how long to you plan on holding me off, knowing I'm immortal?" Free asked tauntingly.

"Immortal? Don't make me laugh." Bradley said mercilessly. "I plan to kill you."

"That symbol on your eye is an Ouroboros," Free noted. "Did you take the eye of some other witch or something? Because I took mine from the strongest witch there is."

"No, it wasn't from a witch. Rather it was given to me by the golden-eyed one with you right now." Bradley shot forward.

"Wolf tail wall!" Free's tail shot forward to impede Bradley. Bradley sidestepped it before it could expand and delivered stabs from both his swords to Free's throat again. He took them out and proceeded to lop off Free's limbs and head repeatedly.

"You can't kill me!" slice, "I'm immortal!" another slice, "I can't die!" a third slice.

"This isn't a question about whether or not I can kill you," Bradley said during pauses. "It is more of a question about how many times I must kill you before you die."

* * *

"So now," Hoenheim started. "I believe you are aware of the power known as Chain Resonance?"

"What of it?" Medusa asked. "If all you're planning to do is to connect your soul with your sons, then it's very easy to deal with."

"No," Hoenheim said, shocking Medusa, "That's not it."

"Then what?" Medusa asked.

"I'm sure that you've witnessed the power that two, three, maybe even seven, have achieved by activating such a move." Hoenheim said.

"And I have," Father replied, and immediately realized just what Hoenheim was about to do.

"Then what if," Hoenheim paused there. "What if you witnessed such power from 536,331 souls?"

"Ridiculous," Medusa scoffed. "Where do you plan on getting such power? Surely there are not that many people in here." She turned to look at Father and was shocked to see that he said nothing, but looked colder than ever.

"It's true," Mei Chan said, staring at Hoenheim with wonder. "I can sense it."

"See? They believe it too, because there really are that many souls composing this body, including my soul." Hoenheim said. "And with that," he closed his eyes, "Chain Resonance."

A large bright blast flared from the body of Van Hoenheim.

"That was _it_?!" Edward shrieked indignantly as the blast only expanded to the ceiling and continued to shine, without reaching either Medusa or Father. "_That_ was the power of over 500,000 souls that you mentioned earlier?! Al and I could do a _lot_ better!"

"No," Mei said, shocked at the large amount of _ki_ that she sensed. "He's holding back his energy reserves…and the energy he's unleashing is…"

"Underground," Father finished as he attempted to counter-transmute Hoenheim's transmutations with his own.

But Hoenheim's transmutations, powered by the Chain Resonance, were too fast, too quick, and used a lot more energy. Father suffered several stab wounds as spikes of stone pierced his body from all over. He broke the spikes, healed, and stood up, cursing Hoenheim.

_The transmutations…_the Elrics thought simultaneously. _I…couldn't even see them happen._

A large shadow filled with eyes loomed overhead from behind the Sage of the West and opened its jagged mouth wide, but was repelled by an outburst of light. Hoenheim lost no time in transmuting the ground around the incoming Pride to trap him inside, restricting him from the light.

Father was stabbed repeatedly again, and Medusa only watched, as the fake she obeyed as "Eibon" was killed and reborn, killed and reborn, killed and reborn…

_Just like Free, could he be immortal?_ She thought, and was caught off guard as a large pillar sprouted to her to the wall. Smaller pillars followed to pin her limbs.

Medusa opened her mouth to chant, but was quickly gagged by another small pillar sprouting from the first, and then expanding in her mouth.

Now finished, Hoenheim toned down the energy, and collapsed to the floor.

"Dad!" Al rushed over to him.

"Winry!" Ed shouted as he headed for Medusa.

"No Edward!" Hoenheim managed to shout. "She'll live and come after us again. Witches like her wouldn't die so easily!"

Ed grunted angrily and stomped out towards the hallway, dejected as he headed towards the exit. Al followed, propping up his father.

"Ah, Alphonse-sama, wait for me!" Mei ran after the suit of armor.

* * *

Father broke the spikes that pierced him again and regenerated, angered at his depleting regenerative ability and Hoenheim's ability.

_Curse you Hoenheim. Was it mere conversation with those humans that enabled you to defeat me? But never mind that. Enduring the attacks conserved more of this stone's energy._

Too late for him now, the souls in his stone have so degraded in identity as to become nothing more than mere masses of energy. _But that sort of connection that Hoenheim shares with that many souls has a weakness…_

He turned to Medusa, who gave little more than muffled cries for help, then to the unconscious three-Mizune combination, pinned to the ceiling above, and then ignored them.

_Now Pride…_ He placed a hand on the stone prison and released Pride. Pride climbed out, where neither the unconscious Mizune nor the restrained Medusa could see him.

The two homunculi walked down the hall.

"You came to me for something, Pride?" Father asked.

"Of course, I came, because we have found more plentiful, more useful resources for you, Father," the childlike homunculus replied.

"Then how did you and Wrath find me here? Not even the Ultimate Eye could see these whereabouts."

"And not even when I absorbed Gluttony could I smell you out either. It was difficult, so I went to Death City to find a soul with the ability of Soul Perception.

"Without the flask, I couldn't propagate my shadow for as long at the time, especially with such little luminosity. Luckily for me, I chanced upon the most powerful sensor there who was able to break through the Soul Protect of the witches."

"I see. Good work, Pride, in finding me. I will make you another flask with which you could propagate your shadow indefinitely. If those resources you mentioned are more useful than the ones I'm leaving now…"

"Do not worry, Father. They are definitely more plentiful and more profitable. And those witches back there, should I eat them?"

"Don't bother with them. They're not worth it."

Wrath walked out of the doorway into the hallway ahead of them.

"Ah, Wrath, so you've come too."

"Of course, Father. Pride brought me here for such a reason. And there's a soul inside there that would pique your interest."

"The werewolf's?" Father asked as he looked in at the creature pinned to the wall with the blades of Wrath's four swords, each of them broken off at the hilt. Four hilts lay on the floor, separated from their blades. "Such a mixed soul would ruin the purity with which the Philosopher's Stone was made and upset the entire stone altogether. Now all that's left is to destroy this hideout and make sure nobody uses it."

And with that, Father left the underground hideout and activated a transmutation that caved it in, leaving the beings that summoned him to rot in the sands as he headed for the Arachnophobia hideout.

* * *

Medusa spit out some sand as one of her snakes shot upwards through the desert, carving a path through for her. Three mice followed at her heels as she walked on the surface of the sands.

An explosion blasted some sands up, followed by two more blasts. Eruka Frog, Chrona, and Free climbed out of their opening coughing, followed by the last two Mizune.

A loud cry of chi chi chi's brought Eruka to apologies as she kneeled down before them.

"I'm sorry!" She wailed as the Mizune's squeaking got louder and angrier. "I couldn't assist you when the invasion was going on! They were too strong!"

"Never mind, Chrona couldn't do that either," Medusa snapped as she looked on towards the horizon at Death City again. "We're going back to Death City. The last part of the plan is approaching, and we can't miss this opportunity…"

* * *

A/N: Another chapter finished. These ideas are churning out so quickly...I'm beginning to miss them as I rush this in...hence the editions. T.T

On a brighter note, Chapter 13 shouldn't be undergoing any editions, despite how unbelievable some parts of the plot sound. How ironic...

Pride can soul sense! O_O

Please rate and review! And I am not sure why I am saying this now, but, just to be safe, no flames please.

Care to guess what the title refers to in that R&R?


	16. Preview

A/N: Due to some current issues with schoolwork and time, the series may be updated a little slowly, but will not be on hiatus. Thank you, faithful readers, for reading up to this point. In the meantime, please enjoy this little parody of a famous trailer we all know.

**

* * *

Preview**

In front of a castle in the shape of a spider, one group of knights fought another group of knights. The clash of weapon on weapon sounded throughout, as the knights in armor spotted with blood and marsh fought the enemy knights wearing masks looking like the spider's face…

A young boy with long golden hair and thin bangs hanging down his forehead and equally golden eyes that saw the golden truth approached a black humanoid, entirely black with an obscurity that sported many eyes with which to see many truths…

A giant pair of transparent double doors opened, and a single eye shone in the darkness before multiple, thin arms of darkness stuck out to take from the environment around them…

A young girl with her hair tied in two tails in the side of her head, just like Maka, except that the tails were much shorter, and bushier, hugged her mother, a woman whose short hair curled around her neck. The mother was outside, buying flowers for the house.

And then…

* * *

"AMESTRESIANS!!" Armstrong yelled, as his muscles shone in the dim light, "TONIGHT, WE DINE…IN _AMESTRIS_!!"

* * *

_Developed by the writer of The Alchemy of Souls  
The poet of The Homunculus in the Flask  
The parodist of Starlight  
And the crackpot of Edo Mew Mew…_

* * *

A legion of Arachnophobia soldiers charged forward, their white masks gleaming menacingly against the sunlight…

"Be afraid!" a man wearing a robe, gauntlets, and a palm tree hat yelled, laughing maniacally as he clapped his hands and placed them on a building, setting off a series of explosions while the witches around him spread their destruction about the city, "Vegas will burn to the ground!"

* * *

"What's this? This is it?" Greed was taken aback by the insanity, or lack thereof.

"**This is madness!!**" the Clown shouted in indignation.

"Madness…" that word alone entered Greed's head as he dug cracks in the prison with his claws.

* * *

"**THIS. IS. **_**SPARTA**_**!!**"

He flew out and delivered a direct kick to the Clown's chest, knocking it down with a roar that echoed slowly throughout the factory.

And the clown vanished into the dark depths of the hole.

* * *

_Comes a story within a story…_

* * *

Ling rushed up to an old man with a sword and struck with an armored arm, roaring with anger…

As that happened, Arachne emerged from the shadows, spreading her insanity full force. And then, Pride clutched his head in pain, Arachne vanished, and the shadows with the jagged teeth, many eyes, and thin black, ropelike arms appeared once again…

Free roared, shooting a blast from his demon eye cannon at the ice prison in which he encased Mosquito…

Liz and Patty turned around, seductively looking over at the demon chainsaw Giriko…

And Arachnophobia's soldiers advanced forward yet again…

A small boat bearing a small group of young Shibusen students sailed through the jungles…

"The growing dominations of Arachne-sama's empire descend upon you!" Mosquito proclaimed. The bats became more agitated and spun around Death the Kid once more…

Arachnophobia's soldiers and Shibusen's soldiers fought in the background as Black Star, with Tsubaki in his hands as the demon blade, clashed with Mifune and his Infinite-One Sword Style…

"The moon will blot out the sun!" the same man in the palm tree hat proclaimed gleefully to a cold being with golden hair and golden eyes, who looked on with mild interest.

"And now to get the sacrifices," was the being's nonchalant reply.

* * *

_That will finish the epic Alchemical Tale…_

* * *

Kim and Ox shared a kiss…

"This is why we fight!" Olivia Armstrong rallied the soldiers…

Black Star slashed again, as he and Mifune now fought…one sword against one sword…

"And this is where you lose!" Maka shouted as she swung a rather large-looking Soul to cleave down Arachne.

* * *

_**30**_

* * *

"And here, the three eyes have met, and the circle has been completed. Our insanity can finally leave yours' and we can go home at last." Hoenheim said, smiling gratefully.

* * *

_Coming Spring 2010_

* * *

Maka woke up and wiped the sweat off her brow nervously. The dream she just witnessed was rather violent rendition of a battle against Arachnophobia, and there were some significant people that she didn't know who caused such massive destruction.

Her worries took her for a moment as she tried to make sense of the dream. She thought for a moment, and her thoughts drifted to Chrona.

And she drifted back to sleep, hoping to be refreshed enough to confront Chrona tomorrow morning.


	17. Chapter 14: Gold and Silver

**Chapter 14: Gold and Silver**

A large, muscular man struggled tiredly across an unknown desert region, his rich robes covered with a rag of a cloak. His loose hair was golden yellow; his tired eyes, the same color.

Unlike the first and second golden-haired and golden-eyed men who've arrived, he knew how he got there. He prepared for desert travel, and he headed into the desert, hoping to escape its center.

Also unlike the first and the second, his weary eyes shone his soul to be on the brink of insanity.

"Just calm down…" he muttered. "I only want to talk.

"Please, just listen to me. You too, listen. Yes, yes…

"You are…not alone…" he fainted from exhaustion and slumped into the sands.

"Edward, why don't you help dad?" Al asked, attempting to hoist up his father while his greaves sunk into the sand.

"Help him Al?" Ed was hysterical. "I would have to be _insane_ to help this bastard! He had me leave Winry behind to almost die! He slept with another woman before we were born and gave birth to Marie! And to top that off, he leaves us to look after mom, lies to us about being sorry, and even dares to defile her presence by visiting her grave!"

"I wasn't lying, Edward, about your mother being the only woman I loved," Hoenheim said tiredly. "And who is this Marie that you are talking about?"

"Oh great," Edward said as he walked faster, passing his brother and Mei. "You slept with some _whore_ and left her and that kid alone-"

"Stop making things up, Edward," said Hoenheim, unusually calm despite being accused of adultery, "The only woman I've ever loved in my life was your mother. There was nobody else. Where did you come up with such a farfetched theory?"

"When I've met _Marie Mjolnir_ for myself, that's how!" Edward shouted stubbornly as he walked ahead to such a fast pace.

Hoenheim sighed and stood up. "Don't worry, Alphonse. I can walk fine now."

Alphonse let his father go gently.

After several minutes of treading through the desert, Hoenheim turned to look at his younger son.

"You do believe me, do you Alphonse?" Hoenheim asked.

"I do, but now, I don't know," Alphonse said, sadly.

"Well now, what are you doing here, Elric brothers? And you've brought some guests back to Shibusen too." A familiar voice sounded to the Elric brothers.

"Dr. Stein? Marie?" Edward was surprised by their appearances as they appeared, especially Marie's. Gold met gold and silver. "You're out on a date in the desert?"

"You really think I would date this guy?" Marie asked him, offended.

"Ah, so you're Marie," Hoenheim said, noting her hair and eye. _No wonder Edward was so angry…_

"And you are?" Marie didn't recognize him.

"Edward and Alphonse's father, Van Hoenheim," he answered.

"He could be your father too, for all I know," Edward muttered angrily.

"He's not my father!" Marie would've punched Edward had not Stein held her back. "I know what my father looks like and that's not him!"

"I've never seen you before either," Hoenheim said.

"You sort of look like one of my grandfathers though, when he was in his forties," Marie said pensively.

Stein said nothing as he looked curiously at Hoenheim.

"Stein?" Marie looked concerned.

"This guy…has so many souls in his body. I can't even find his own soul in there," Stein was amazed. "How many are in there?"

Hoenheim appeared grim. "These are half the population of an ancient civilization from where I hail."

"I see. I'm actually on the run from Shibusen after being branded a criminal. I advise that you, in the state you are now, seek protection."

"I have observed a certain technique your students used, called 'Chain Resonance'." Hoenheim answered. "I am simply tired from using such an exhausting technique, integrating myself with that many souls…"

"Is that so?" Stein asked cryptically, "Then farewell."

And with that, Stein and Marie walked their way and the Elrics, Mei, and Hoenheim walked theirs, each group leading a separate path.

"Ah, one more thing," Hoenheim said.

Stein listened.

"If you're going that way, then you may encounter another man who looks identical to me in appearance. That is only a shell that resembles me, and if you look into the souls within him, you may see that they're going mad, quite like the homunculus Greed who was with you earlier."

"I see. I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

Morning came, and with it, started another day for the students of Shibusen.

The alarm clock sounded for Soul Eater Evans yet again and he punched it, demanding more sleep.

And the usual day started for him after that. Blair came onto him in the morning, seducing him with her large chest-watermelons. Naturally, Soul shied away from her, which was up the back of his bed. This position only made it more natural for her to rest her violet-haired head against his chest and he felt his face growing hotter by the second.

"B…Blair…" Soul said hesitantly. "Don't…or- mmph!"

"You wanted some of this, didn't you, Soul?" Blair asked seductively, smothering him with her chest.

"Soul, hurry up, breakfast is running cold." Maka knocked on the door.

Soul had gone through this sort of scenario several times before, and each time it didn't end cool. He always ended up beaten by Maka, one way or another.

Today, however, she didn't walk right through when he was being molested. She just knocked and walked over to her table, eating breakfast.

Soul hurriedly got out of bed, dressed quickly, and walked to the kitchen. It was tough doing the last two, considering the disturbing comments on his body he was getting out of Blair forced him to anticipate an incoming Maka Chop that was bound to come midway through his hurried preparations.

Strangely, it didn't come. By the time he entered the kitchen, Maka was at the table, eating her pancakes with syrup. There was a look in her eyes that suggested worry, and Soul knew that whenever this happened, anything bound to come his way wasn't going to be good.

* * *

"Chrona!" Maka called cheerily as she stepped into the residential quarters of her friend. The best way to approach a situation like this when she was doubtful of her friend's allegiance was cheerily, to lighten the mood.

She wasn't met with a response. She checked around the door to the "Mr. Corner" Chrona used to hang around.

Nobody was here, not Chrona, not her roommates, the Elrics.

Later, Maka found out about a few others who also went missing. including the late Buttataki Joe, and Shibusen teachers Stein and Marie.

* * *

"Maka…" Soul called. Maka did not respond as she brought over her tray into the Shibusen dining room.

Memories played out in Maka Albarn's head as she walked over to sit with Soul.

* * *

_"What sort of movie are you going to watch, Edward?" Maka asked._

_"Movie?" Edward was confused._

_"Motion pictures," Soul simplified. "Rather than normal pictures that you draw, take photos with, whatever, motion pictures, or movies, allow these to move."_

_"I know what it is," Edward said. "I've seen a couple. They just didn't go by those names where I came from."_

_"Well then, which one?" Blair asked, as she sat on Maka's head._

_"Why are you all asking me?" Ed stopped abruptly and turned around to face the others._

_"Hey, maggot, leave us out of this!" Ragnarok shouted at him from Chrona's back._

_"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SOMEONE SO SMALL THAT HE WOULD ONLY BE CRUMBS FOR MAGGOTS WHEN THEY COME TO EAT HIM?" Edward roared, held back by Alphonse.

* * *

_

"Why?" Maka asked as she sat down, slightly saddened, otherwise perplexed by the Elrics' unusual actions. "Why of all people would those alchemist brothers leave?"

"We've still got other alchemists to counter them," Soul said with relief.

This failed to get a reaction out of Maka, and he said with a voice of concern, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Maka said angrily, "And Edward…just how he talks reminds me too much of my father. It's disturbing."

"Well, they do sound similar," Soul was perplexed, "But what does that have to do with anything?"

* * *

Two figures treading a desert region turned towards his unconscious body. One had a screw through his silver-haired head. The other had the same hair and eye color as the man who collapsed.

Now gold and silver met gold.

"Marie," Stein said. "That's him. The one Hoenheim warned us about."

"He doesn't seem that harmful to me though. Looks more like he's going to get harmed," Marie noted sympathetically.

"We'll see what we can get out of him," Stein said, as he detected the same maddening wavelengths sprouting from the being.

Hoenheim opened his eyes at the mention of his name. Nobody alive should've known about it, especially not since everyone who knew him was wiped out and stored in the stone.

"Hoenheim?" he asked weakly.

"You know him?" Stein asked.

"He doesn't seem very stable to me," Marie said sympathetically.

"I am Hoenheim," he said, barely moving himself.

Marie gave Stein a questioning look. Stein nodded and helped him up, while Marie supported his other arm. The being with the multiple souls seemed to be talking, but to nobody in particular, apologizing for some sort of wrongdoing or his own incapability.

Stein continued on his intended path with Marie, hoisting the being on the way. And then, he suddenly stopped.

"Why are we stopping?" the golden-haired figure asked.

"You were the fake that Hoenheim mentioned earlier," Stein said, "An imposter that looks like him."

"How do you know about me? And that wasn't me. That was a thing that only looks like me." His golden eyes looked into Stein's eyes.

"I find that hard to believe, considering he was Edward and Alphonse's father." Marie added stubbornly.

"Edward? Alphonse? I have never heard of those names before." He was dumbfounded.

"And that proves it. You are a fake." Stein drew back his hand, poised to strike with his soul wavelength.

The male human figure with the golden hair and golden eyes tried to draw back as the hand aimed directly for his midsection. The blast struck him full force and he went unconscious.

"Now what are we going to do with him?" Marie asked, before she turned to look, "Stein? What's happening to him?"

The "Hoenheim" before them disintegrated into sand. A wind blew by and the rest of that incarnation of Hoenheim was no more.

"I can't even sense the soul wavelengths anymore," Stein said worriedly. "They seemed to be disappearing. What is this?"

* * *

"Well, here it is," Edward said tiredly as he reached Death City at dusk. "Finally…"

"Is this the underworld?" Mei asked.

"I thought so too." Edward muttered, barely audibly. "But this place is actually a place where our alchemical knowledge could use some benefit…"

"So there's a positive flow around this place?" Mei asked.

"Uh…yeah, you could say that," Al replied hesitantly, half unsure of what the Xingese princess was saying.

"You guys go ahead. I'll be outside the city." Hoenheim said.

"But, dad…" Al said.

"Good riddance," Ed said, strutting off.

"What will some people think if they suddenly sense a half-million increase in the population of this place?" Hoenheim said. "Edward, Alphonse, take care."

Alphonse took one look at his dad and walked off, somewhat reluctantly. Mei followed the suit of armor as Hoenheim walked off in the opposite direction.

* * *

A/N: Well, I'm finally back to update this dying piece of work. I'm glad that the last chapter of Fullmetal Alchemist finished with such an awesome ending.

I'll try to get this done before the present time reduces all of my ideas to waste.


	18. Chapter 15: Start of Mission

A/N: I'm back with the latest chapter thus far. Thank you, kind readers, for keeping up with the late updates.

Just to confirm, the old man with gold hair in the last chapter was not Father.

* * *

**Chapter 15: Start of Mission**

"Kilik, have you decided where you're going for your extracurricular lesson?" asked Ox, as he checked the papers from the bulletin board.

"No, not yet," Kilik replied, checking the papers as his partners danced around him, "You?"

"Yeah," the almost-bald boy replied. "It has to do with Arachnophobia."

"There have been a lot of those Arachno-group ones lately," Kilik commented.

"Have you decided who you're going with?" Kilik asked. "If you like, I-"

"I'M PLANNING TO GO WITH KIM OF COURSE!" Ox shouted enthusiastically, and then faltered. "Though…I haven't invited her yet…"

"Is that so…? Good luck!" his friend wished him, and turned back to the board. "Now then, which should I pick?"

He caught notice of one such paper and reached for it, when several loud crashes and rancorous shouting sounded at the ends of the halls. Kilik turned to look and found Roy Mustang and his group rushing over to the source of the sound.

"Hey! Let me go! I've come back! What are you doing?"

"Brother, calm down. They're only going to ask us a few questions and then they'll set us free."

"Oh great," Mustang said, dragging his hand across his face. This could only be one possible pair and he knew too well who this pair was.

"Yeah? Well why did they grab me first instead of asking me questions straightaway, _like they're supposed to_?"

"It's the Fullmetal chief, alright," Breda added as he slowed his run to a walk.

"I'm pretty sure they meant the best."

"Leaving the night when other suspicious characters had to leave," Havoc muttered as he rolled after them on his wheelchair.

* * *

"I heard they're being brought straight to Shinigami-sama if they were found." Maka said.

"Wonder what they did to make him that mad," Kilik looked dumbfounded.

"They ran from Shibusen. Nygus-sensei told me it was to prove Stein's innocence but they were gone for the night." Soul said. "Shinigami-sama must want to see them for something urgent."

* * *

Edward Elric was fuming.

"Thank you for bringing me to this room so soon. The last time I tried to get here, I winded up getting a tour of the school instead." His voice was bitterly sarcastic.

"Well, Edward Elric-kun, I heard about you trying to prove Stein-kun innocent. It also turns out you ran into some trouble and ended up coming back." Shinigami said in his usual cheerful tone.

"What are you acting so happy for? Stein is innocent! He was framed! You have to believe-"

"Unfortunately, Stein-kun cannot be innocent. Spirit-kun, Mustang-kun, Armstrong-kun, and the teachers have all witnessed Stein kidnapping Marie."

"THAT'S A LIE! I'VE SEEN HIM AND MARIE CROSSING THE DESERT AND IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE A KIDNAP-"

"SHINIGAMI-CHOP!"

That forced the Fullmetal Alchemist to bite his tongue, literally.

"I understand how you feel about Professor Stein, but that isn't something we can do about right now. You can only hope that our witnesses are wrong. And what I am about to tell you does not concern Professor Stein."

* * *

Edward Elric was incensed.

To get him angry was something anybody age five and above could do. To get him furious took a little more effort.

But to get Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, _incensed_ was something deserving of a small award.

A little comparison: he was angry when he was called short, and he was furious when he suspected that Marie Mjolnir might be his half-sister. Now, he's _incensed_.

"We saw Stein there, brother, and he didn't attack us. We can prove that he's still on our side."

"Yeah, I know, if only this joke of a Shinigami wasn't such a b*stard about that."

"Don't say that about him. You could have been marked as a traitor and put in prison! But he let us attend school with the other students!"

"Yeah, great story, Al. We are _alchemists_ for God's sake trying to prevent an entire nation from being sacrificed to make a philosopher's stone. And he has the nerve to put us back in school with a bunch of other kids." Edward had no idea what kind of future his words foretold.

"Ed, they're a bunch of kids being trained to fight dangerous enemies. You have to respect that."

Edward snorted. "Now you're the weapon and I'm your technician. They have the nerve to call you a weapon-"

"Not exactly, brother. We're both weapons-"

"-but I'm registered as a technician. They had to guess which category to put me in because of my metal arm. 'Your alchemical powers are so helpful to us that we can pass both of you off as _2_-star students.'" Edward imitated the overly joyful voice. "Being major to the Fuhrer was better…"

"Don't say that. It was still generous of him to rank us stronger than Black Star."

"That still isn't saying much, is it?"

A flash of blue, and then, everything around Edward Elric went black. He was gasping for breath.

* * *

"Ah, Edward Elric! You are back!" Alex Louis Armstrong cried.

"Hello, Major." Alphonse answered.

"Don't be down Edward Elric!" Armstrong continued. "Now that you have a position within this school you have to take advantage of that! Look at those students, so young, yet they take on missions that even state alchemists would have trouble accepting! Pick one like this, 'Silence the angry giant, Ross Giant, with your fists. Entry requirement: an uplifting and fired-up heart.'"

"Well, given what's happened already, 'an uplifting and fired-up heart' would be the last thing I have." Edward sighed as soon as he had room to breathe.

"Don't be like that Edward," Armstrong consoled. "It will be time for you to get one!"

* * *

"You meet the requirements magnificently, but the shrimp next to you doesn't." The lady at the desk answered. "I can't approve if you are bringing him along."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIECE OF KRILL THAT DOESN'T EVEN COMPARE TO SHIRIMP?" Edward screamed.

"That's much better." The lady answered, smiling.

Edward sighed and calmed down, still seething.

"…not."

Edward sighed in relief as he slid from Armstrong's grasp.

"How about this one, brother?" Alphonse asked, and picked up a slip of paper from the bulletin, only to feel it pulled by another hand at the same time.

It was Maka.

"So you've already started taking lessons?" Maka asked. "I'm pretty jealous though, you guys entering as two-star students. It's never happened before."

"Yeah, well, Shinigami-sama needed something to cool down this guy." Soul shrugged. "Seems like that wasn't enough. It would've been so cool for me to do that…"

"Lessons…oh this?" Alphonse pointed to the slip of paper.

"'Solve an incident at a mysterious factory. Entry requirement: Soul perception ability, alchemy.'" Maka read. "It was probably added on because of all the alchemists we've been getting from your world."

"Yeah, whatever," Edward turned away, "Why don't we get Mustang to take care of this? He could actually make himself useful for once."

"Look at the back."

"'Leave this kind of boring lesson to Maka. From the strongest, Black Star-sama.'" Maka read out loud.

"There's more." Soul pointed out.

"'Short people won't undergo as much back pain when they bend down to check footprints.'" Maka read, and stifled a giggle. This wasn't Black Star's handwriting, and a light burn mark was placed near the corner as a sort of signature.

Edward Elric proceeded to go on a rampage. _Roy Mustang, prepare to treasure the last few seconds of your life…_

* * *

Giolio Comanche could not believe his luck.

He had been knocked into the water by Scar and had absolutely nothing to transmute into weapons.

And he was at Scar's mercy, once the Ishvalan serial killer had entered the water to get rid of him.

Comanche felt his brain burst for an instant, and everything went blank.

Little was either of them to know that this would not be the end of Giolio Comanche.

Comanche woke up in a room that he did not recognize. Black-hooded people wearing some white mask that looked like a cartoon spider's face were all over.

Several were crowding around him. Once he noticed, though, they backed away. Some bowed, others saluted.

_What is going on here?_ He wondered. _I was sure that I died from that…_

He became aware of what the black-hooded people were talking about. Some of them mentioned "Mosquito-sama's brother", whoever that was. From what he could tell about them, they weren't going to fight him, unfortunately. Comanche had always loved fighting, and had been extremely angry to have been pulled from the battlefield of Ishval because a bullet from some d*mned Ishvalan entered his leg. He couldn't have cared less that the leg had to be amputated and replaced with a peg leg, but being pulled from the battlefield because of some minor injury like that was something that he couldn't forgive.

The black-hooded people backed away at once when a figure that Comanche recognized all too well appeared before him.

"Hello, major Comanche."

"Fuhrer!" Comanche stood up immediately and saluted, untroubled by his peg leg.

"It is good to see that you are here, major. Let me update you on a few events that have led up to this moment."

* * *

"So why are we going without Ed?" Soul asked Death the Kid.

"That boy caused Shibusen so much disorder…" Kid replied. "First he breaks every single symmetrical rule available to him. Next he brings along even more asymmetrical friends to mess up the symmetry even more. After that, he runs off across the desert like a lunatic and comes back across it the next morning, and when he does come back, he's a two-star student and doesn't appreciate the symmetrical order of two stars. Even more, he goes on some kind of rampage and upsets the symmetry of the entire school, which I had been working my whole life to maintain…"

"Okay, we get it already," Liz replied irritably.

"Don't be like that, Kid, we need to wait for Edward," Maka consoled Shinigami's son.

"MAKA! DADDY LOVES YOU WITH ALL HIS HEART!" The sound of Spirit Albarn's joyful scream was so high pitched that it sounded like a distorted version of the voice of a certain alchemist.

"On second thought, let's go," Maka said quickly, clearly disturbed by the vocal distortion.

* * *

"Where did Maka go?" Alphonse asked upon coming back to the board. Steam was evaporating from Edward's head.

"She left already with Kid's team." Kilik replied. "Your brother is too temperamental."

"Sorry," Alphonse bowed his head in shame. Edward turned away angrily.

"It's alright. Just find another mission on the board and take that one." Kilik nodded at the board.

"Even children as young as them are taking on difficult tasks! Did you not see them when we were sent to retrieve Brew?" Armstrong exclaimed in admiration of Fire and Thunder.

"Well, they're not humans, exactly." Kilik replied. "They're nature spirits. I'll have to give it to you alchemists, though. Just one of you is enough to wipe out so many soldiers easily. Your nation must be blessed to have you serving them."

At this, Armstrong's face became downcast. "If only it were that simple…" He murmured, turning his face away. Kilik noticed a similar change in that of the Elrics.

"Why? What happened?" Kilik didn't get to hear the answer, as this depressing sight was replaced with a sight of utter horror.

Ox Ford had come back looking like a corpse for the world. His face was sunken, and the piece of paper he held in his hand hung loosely from his hand.

"You're…Ox…right?" Alphonse asked carefully, wondering whether the rumored bald boy with hair styled as two horns was this walking zombie. Ox's partner Harvar turned away, clearly disinterested in the state his partner was in. _Whatever happened to Ox just then must have happened a couple of times before this…_

"Ki…Kim?" Kilik inquired.

"She said there's no way she'd go out with someone with this kind of creepy hairstyle…" Ox said, tears streaming from under his glasses.

"Just shave it…" Kilik muttered.

"What?" Ox perked up.

"I said just cut it off, it's weird to look at."

"Sure I probably have a unique hairstyle." Ox reflected.

_You do. I seriously doubt anybody else has that kind of hair._ Edward thought.

"And sure, many people might find it weird." Ox continued.

_Who doesn't?_ Edward wondered.

"Is it really worth it, to have to wake up early every day and keep it like this? You might question my actions. Maybe you are right, Kilik, maybe I should just cut it off.

"However, even if the woman I love said they're creepy, I still cannot allow these two towers to be broken!

"It is these two pillars that grant me the power to protect! To protect those that I love! The thunder that inspires me!

"I'll do something other than shave them!" Ox shouted. "Kim doesn't turn towards me, not because they're creepy! On the other hand, it's because they AREN'T POLISHED ENOUGH!"

Armstrong was moved to tears by this speech, which outshined the pink sparkles that glittered around his massive frame.

Kilik recalled the entry requirements on the mission. _An uplifting and fired up heart…_

"Want to go with us?" Kilik asked, putting an arm around Ox's shoulders.

"And bring down that giant?" Armstrong asked, doing the same, pink sparkles aglitter.

"Lady! This one please!" Kilik threw the sheet of paper onto the reception counter.

"I was watching you three from behind, all this time." The receptionist said. "The entry requirements: SUPER APPROVED!" She gave a thumbs up.

"What about the two back there?" Armstrong asked as Kilik and Ox bumped fists.

"What do you mean two? I only saw one: the armor." The receptionist said in disbelief.

Edward Elric's roaring shattered all the glass windows on that floor.

* * *

"So much steam…" Liz observed, when Maka's and Kid's group arrived at the factory in Russia.

"This factory isn't operational right now, right?" Kid asked.

"Yeah," Maka replied. "And it seems like nobody's come or gone since six years ago."

"Even though there's steam and mechanical noise…" Soul observed.

Maka and Kid closed their eyes for a moment. Soul perception was the entry requirement for this for a very good reason, and someone had to be operating this. It was their best method to counter surprise attacks.

"Maka, do you feel anything?" Kid asked.

"Not yet," she replied. There was no other alternative but to start looking the basic way.

"Let's start by going inside." Everyone started forward.

"WAIT!" Kid yelled.

"What? What's wrong?" Maka asked.

"I'm saying wait!"

"Then what? Jeez…"

"Where are you guys planning on entering from?"

"Where? Over there." Maka pointed to a nearby vent.

"Don't joke around! How's that an entrance? That's just a vent."

"I don't know. There are many other places that we can enter from."

"In that case, you guys head on first. We'll find the proper entrance to enter through."

"Whatever, let's go, Soul."

* * *

"You're Edward, right?" the pink-haired girl asked the Fullmetal alchemist.

"Yeah, I am, why?" Edward asked.

"Could you…um…go with us on this mission?" she blushed and handed him a slip of paper. "I'm Kim Diehl, by the way."

Behind her, Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupre was smiling warmly.

"Wait, didn't Ox ask you to go on a mission with him?" Alphonse asked, remembering the boy with the two large spikes of hair.

"There's no way I would go with someone with that kind of creepy hairstyle." Kim remarked hotly.

"And I have a request, Edward," she switched to a much kinder tone, "could you transmute some gold out of rocks for me?"

Edward muttered something about laypeople not understanding alchemy and equivalent exchange.

"Well, he can't, because alchemy operates on the principle of equivalent exchange. You can only make something out of what you have," Al intervened, drowning out his brother's words at the girls who had kindly invited them to go on a mission.

_Not to mention that they're girls who don't look at me weirdly even though I'm a giant suit of armor_, Al smiled inwardly with relief.

"Oh, Alphonse," Jackie asked the suit of armor, "Why do you stay in your weapon form all the time?"

Alphonse cried on the inside.

"It's just a preference of his. He's much shorter than me when he's not in his weapon form." Edward laughed.

"_Actually_, brother, wasn't I the taller one the last time we measured?"

"No you weren't, Al. you ate so _little_ that you stopped growing taller."

"You eat a lot more than I do and yet you don't grow any taller, brother. _I wonder where all that food goes?_"

"Very funny…"

"Well, here's the mission," Jackie picked up a note. "'People die mysteriously in a small village. Find the invisible murderer.' Sounds pretty scary."

"We've been through worse." Edward smirked.

* * *

When Bradley first entered Baba Yaga's Castle as a means to ally himself with Arachne and search for Father, he found the other pawns bowing down to him. He would walk by, silently and authoritatively, just like Central before the insurrection.

Now, as Bradley returned to Baba Yaga's Castle with Father, he found them standing still and shooting their arms at 45° angles with a loud "Heil Bradley!" which effectively stunned him. These men displayed such unusual behavior now, especially those who seemingly mastered one of Amestris's mother languages.

"Welcome back, King Bradley. Nice guest you've brought here," Arachne said warmly. "Like the salute they've been giving you?"

"What is the meaning of this ridiculous 'salute', Arachne?" Bradley asked humorlessly.

"Oh, it's just a trend I picked up for you, as thanks for bringing such powerful allies to Arachnophobia," Arachne smiled, and proceeded to launch into an explanation on the history of the Fuhrer of Germany.

"And why do they raise their arms in such an idiotic manner?" Bradley asked.

"Well, they're reaching out to you." Arachne replied. _And to me_.

"Fitting."


End file.
